Australia confirms refugee deal with Cambodia

SYDNEY - Australia confirmed Thursday it will sign an asylum-seeker resettlement deal with Cambodia in a move slammed by human rights groups as violating its international obligations.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison will be in Phnom Penh on Friday to seal the deal, which could see some asylum-seekers currently held in offshore detention camps by Canberra transferred to the Southeast Asian nation.

The agreement came as the Australian government formally presented a bill in parliament to reintroduce temporary visas for other asylum-seekers held on Christmas Island, an Australian territory in the Indian Ocean, or in mainland facilities.

The bill also removes direct references to the UN Refugee Convention from the Migration Act, replacing it with an Australian interpretation of the nation's protection obligations.

Morrison said the Cambodia arrangement would be "strictly voluntary" for refugees and the resettlement would be permanent.

"Anyone who chooses to go to Cambodia will have chosen themselves to go to Cambodia," he said at a press conference.

Morrison said those who went to Cambodia would be given support "designed to make them self-reliant as quickly as possible".

"They will be afforded all the same rights under Cambodian law and those that exist under the Refugee Convention and there is no cap on what has been discussed here." The minister did not provide further details about the nature of the measures, how many refugees could be transferred and how much Cambodia would be paid under the deal.

Human Rights Watch said the arrangement placed refugees at risk and Australia "will be failing to meet the terms of its agreement because Cambodia is not a safe third country".

United Nations Human Rights Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) spokeswoman in Bangkok Vivian Tan told AFP that Australia's "international refugee responsibilities are in question here".

"We are concerned that such bilateral agreements could set a dangerous precedent for refugee protection around the world," Tan said.

"The global asylum system relies on countries working together to solve refugee problems, not by asking others to deal with them."

Reintroduction of temporary visas

The temporary visa arrangements, when passed by parliament, would help clear the backlog of asylum-seekers who arrived in Australia by boat last year, Morrison said.

About 1,550 potential refugees, including 436 children and their families and 32 unaccompanied minors, could be eligible for the visas.

Under the bill, the visas are separated into two categories.