Coroner & Legal
The Shame …
Human rights groups have described a deal to send asylum seekers from Australia’s offshore detention centres to Cambodia as shameful.
Cambodia’s foreign affairs ministry said it would sign a memorandum of understanding with Immigration Minister Scott Morrison to take asylum seekers from Nauru.
The minister has not confirmed the deal but is travelling to Phnom Penh on Friday.
The president of Cambodia’s Centre for Human Rights, Virak Ou, told Radio National Breakfast the country was poor and had a terrible record for protecting refugees.
“It is shameful but it is also illegal. The Australian Government has an obligation to protect refugees and sending them Cambodia’s way is not how a responsible country protects refugees,” he said.
“Cambodia is in no position to take refugees. We are a poor country, the health system is sub-par at most. I don’t know how the refugees will send their kids to school.
“The Cambodian school system is rife with corruption … the access to education here is quite bad. So I don’t know what the Australian Government is thinking nor what they expect from this deal.”
Human Rights Watch said the agreement did not meet Australia’s commitment to send refugees to a safe third country.
The deal has been months in the making and few details have been made public, including how much Australia will pay Cambodia, one of the poorest nations in South East Asia.
Refugee advocate David Mann told ABC NewsRadio the deal was largely shrouded in secrecy and was a matter of profound concern.
He labelled the plan a “dangerous refugee diversion deal with Cambodia” saying “Australia risks violating people’s rights and endangering lives”.
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