Prime Minister Tony Abbott says he would welcome a decision by #Cambodia to accept asylum seekers from Australia. Immigration Minister Scott Morrison is in Cambodia, where he has held talks with the countrys interior minister to follow up on an earlier request for the country to help resettle asylum seekers. In February, the Cambodian government revealed that Foreign Minister Julie Bishop had asked their country to accept some asylum seekers. Mr Abbott says any cooperation or support Cambodia could provide would be appreciated. Whether Cambodia were to accept people is really a matter for Cambodia, he said. The point is people smuggling is a regional problem [and] it needs to be dealt with in a regional way. Were very pleased to have been getting the support from PNG and Nauru that weve had and we look forward to further support from other countries in our region including from Cambodia. Earlier Mr Morrisons spokesman said talks in Phnom Penh focused on regional cooperation to deal with asylum seeker movements, following on from an earlier visit by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop in February. Australia has ongoing engagement with countries across our region on strengthening border protection and deterring the illegal movement of people across borders, Mr Morrisons spokesman said. During Ms Bishops trip to Cambodia in February, her counterpart told a joint press briefing that she had raised a proposal for Cambodia to take some refugees from Australia. In the past, Cambodians have fled their country to other countries but now its time that Cambodia takes in refugees from other countries, Cambodian foreign minister Hor Namhong said. Ms Bishop would not go into details about the discussions but said she had acknowledged Cambodias role in the Bali Process - a regional forum on people smuggling. We dont have any information from the Government: Labor The Federal Opposition has accused the Government of trying to secretly arrange a deal with Cambodia. Opposition immigration spokesman Richard Marles says it is too early to say if Labor would support such a proposal. Well its an impossible question to answer in circumstances where we dont even know the subject of the conversation that is being had between the Australian Government and the Cambodian government, he said. We dont have any information from the Government itself about what its doing in Cambodia. We have the Immigration Minister and the Foreign Minister turn up in Phnom Penh and we discover this from sources inside Cambodia, rather than the Australian Government itself. It is bizarre behaviour. Greens immigration spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young says the Government should be more forthcoming about its dealings with Cambodia. No-one in their right mind believes that Minister Morrison is doing anything beyond trying to wipe Australias hands of our international responsibilities and doing the right thing by refugees, she said. There is obviously the need for cooperation across how we deal with the humanitarian issues of refugees across the region. I think Mr Morrison is just looking for the next poor country to dump them. Hes in Cambodia just like previous weeks when Julie Bishop visited - we heard from the Cambodians that she was asking them to take Australia’s refugees. Meanwhile, all #asylum seekers held on #Manus Island who are found to be refugees will be resettled in Papua New Guinea. Mr Morrison made the announcement after meeting with his counterpart in Port Moresby on Thursday. It comes weeks after the PNG Government said it would only resettle some people recognised as #refugees, arguing that other countries in the region should share the burden. #auspol #share
Posted on: Fri, 04 Apr 2014 11:44:20 +0000
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