Cambodia, Australia sign refugee settlement deal

PHNOM PENH -- Cambodia and Australia signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on the settlement of refugees on Friday afternoon after a seven-month negotiation.

The deal was inked between Cambodian Interior Minister Sar Kheng and visiting Australian Immigration Minister Scott Morrison at the Ministry of Interior.

Under the MoU, Australia will send refugees, who intended to seek asylum in Australia and were held in an offshore detention camp in the tiny Pacific nation of Nauru, to resettle in Cambodia.

"The MoU will offer settlement of refugees in Cambodia on a voluntary basis and in conformity with the Refugees Convention," said a joint press statement after the signing ceremony. "The number and timing of refugee settlement will be determined by Cambodia."

The agreement came after a seven-month negotiation between the two countries since Australian Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop proposed it with Cambodia in February during her visit to the Southeast Asian nation.

"Offering the settlement of refugees is considered a humanitarian activity which will help them start a new life in accordance with Cambodian laws," Sar Kheng said in the statement.

Morrison welcomed Cambodia's decision to provide settlement outcomes to refugees, saying that a number of those found to be in genuine need of protection will now have the opportunity and support to re-establish their lives free from persecution.

"As a party to the Refugees Convention, Cambodia, while making countless efforts to develop the country after the civil war, is demonstrating its ability and willingness to contribute positively to this humanitarian issue," he said.

Under the offshore processing scheme, which Australia says is aimed at deterring people-smugglers, any asylum-seeker arriving by boat or intercepted at sea is transferred to detention centers in Manus island of Papua New Guinea or Nauru for processing.

If their asylum claims were approved, they would only be allowed to settle outside Australia.

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