Iranian asylum seeker to resettle in Cambodia, advocate says

An Iranian asylum seeker has agreed to resettle in Cambodia as part of the Abbott Government’s refugee transfer agreement, according to an advocate.

A Cambodian boy walks across a bamboo bridge at the fishing village of Tuol Yey Ma along the Mekong River bank near Phnom Penh, Cambodia (AP Photo/Heng Sinith, File)

A Cambodian boy walks across a bamboo bridge at the fishing village of Tuol Yey Ma along the Mekong River bank near Phnom Penh, Cambodia (AP Photo/Heng Sinith, File) Source: AP

An Iranian asylum seeker has agreed to resettle in Cambodia as part of the Abbott Government’s refugee transfer agreement, an advocate has told SBS.

Cambodia has agreed to take refugees processed on Nauru, as part of an agreement with Australia.

The $30 million deal has been criticised by a chorus of international agencies, including the United Nations Children's Fund.

An Iranian man has now agreed to take part in the resettlement program, an advocate has confirmed to SBS.

He said that there had also been reports that three Tamil asylum seekers had agreed to be resettled, but this cannot be independently verified.
The Iranian man will join a Burmese refugee, who is expected to take a charter plane from Nauru shortly.

However, local media has reported that the Rohingya man who fled Burma was the only volunteer for the program to date.

Speaking to the Cambodia Daily, Ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak said he did not know when the man would arrive.

“We have received only one volunteer… and our team is now working with our Australian counterparts,” he said.

"... He volunteered to come, through the verification of our Cambodian team."

The Department of Immigration declined commenting.

The news comes after the release of a video message by Immigration Minister Peter Dutton, in which he told refugees that they shouldn't heed the advice of "troublemakers" telling them to turn down settlement in Cambodia.

The video, shown to refugees and played at the Nauru detention centre, described the government-funded resettlement packages as including cash, employment assistance, transitional accommodation, Khmer language classes and health insurance.

"The offer of assistance now is for those people who... have had the courage to stare down some of the troublemakers on Nauru," Mr Dutton said.




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By Stephanie Anderson
Source: SBS


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