Australia spent £29 million on a deal with Cambodia to accept its refugees but the scheme has been labelled an “expensive joke” after just two people took up the offer to relocate.
The four-year deal, signed in 2014, was designed to resettle hundreds of refugees who have been transferred by Australia to the tiny Pacific nation of Nauru.
Australia’s immigration officials have made repeated attempts to persuade the refugees of the merits of moving to Cambodia – one of the world’s poorest nations – but only five people agreed to resettle there.
It has now emerged that three of the five – a Burmese man and an Iranian couple – have returned to their homelands. Continue reading
Additional readingNews category: Asia Pacific, News Shorts.