30 Apr 2015

Four refugees agreed to resettle in Cambodia - report

2:03 pm on 30 April 2015

The Refugee Action Coalition says despite ongoing pressure from the Australian government, just four refugees on Nauru have agreed to resettle in Cambodia under a controversial 30 million dollar deal.

A spokesperson, Ian Rintoul, says refugees have been offered of up to 12,000 US dollars, health insurance and help with employment if they go to Phnom Penh.

Protesters gather on Nauru to protest resettlement in Cambodia

Protesters gather on Nauru to protest resettlement in Cambodia Photo: Supplied

But he says just four people - an Iranian couple, an Iranian man and a Rohingyan man - have agreed to the transfer.

Mr Rintoul says three of them had not yet been processed as refugees when approached by the government.

"It seems very clear that the government is bending the rules to try and save political face. In an effort to get bottoms on seats on a plane to Cambodia, they've gone to asylum seekers who now only in very recent days have been determined to be refugees, so that they will loosely fit the rules of people who can go from Nauru to Cambodia."

It is not known when the first plane carrying refugees will leave from Nauru to Cambodia.

Refugees on Nauru have released a video on YouTube rejecting the Cambodia resettlement proposal.

It is in response to the pro-Cambodia video produced by Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton shown to refugees on Nauru.

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