Chequebook diplomacy is it? With Papua New Guinea and Nauru getting a handsome package in the recent Australian Budget of Prime Minister Tony Abbott, are the two countries being rewarded for agreeing to host refugee processing centres? Waigani got almost a A$60 million hike in aid assistance to $577.1 million while Yaren gets a cool $27.1 million. The UN Higher Commissioner for Refugees is reportedly unimpressed by Canberra’s offshore asylum detention centres, telling an Australian Senate Committee hearing last month that it is Australia’s legal responsibility to look after any refugee that cannot be resettled by PNG. ‘Telling them they might have to wait between two to five years for a final decision did not meet international standards,’ the UNHCR told the Senate hearing.
Posted on: Mon, 07 Jul 2014 11:10:31 +0000
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