UNHCR Criticise Australia Backtracking on Refugee Relocation Agreement

Australian government backtrack on a refugee relocation agreement. UNHCR criticise Turnbull government not taking vulnerable refugees with close family ties in Australia. However, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says that no refugees housed on Manus or Nauru will ever be settled in Australia.

Australia's Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop Source: AAP

The head of the United Nation's refugee agency, Filippo Grandi, has accused the Australian government of backtracking on an agreement to resettle some people in offshore detention in Australia. The statement from the UNHCR details how the agency agreed to help with the relocation of refugees on Manus Island and Nauru to the United States, in a deal struck in November. But it said its support was based on the clear understanding that vulnerable refugees with close family ties in Australia would ultimately be able to settle there. However, the Turnbull government is refusing to allow. Foreign Minister Julie Bishop says the government has been clear about its position from the outset, and that no refugees housed on Manus or Nauru will ever be settled in Australia.