Hundreds of protesters hold a rally outside the Department
of Immigration offices in Sydney to call for the closure of the Nauru and Manus
detention centres.
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Reuters in Sydney and Washington
Saturday 15 July 2017 14.26 BST Last modified on
Saturday 15 July 2017 15.37 BST
The resettlement of refugees from an Australia-run detention
centre on the Pacific island of Nauru as part of a deal with the US has been
thrown into doubt after American officials interviewing detainees left the
facility abruptly.
The officials halted screening interviews and departed the
island on Friday, two weeks short of their scheduled timetable and a day after
Washington said the US had reached its annual refugee intake cap.
Analysis Brutal truth of Australia's detention regime can't
be written off. Not even for $70m
The Australian government was prepared to pay out to stop
the shame of Manus Island being aired in court. But the ultimate cost is borne
by the refugees and asylum seekers who have had their lives ruined
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“US [officials] were scheduled to be on Nauru until 26 July
but they left on Friday,” one refugee told Reuters, requesting anonymity as he
did not want to jeopardise his application for resettlement.
In the US, a senior member of the union that represents
refugee officers at the Citizenship and Immigration Services (USCIS), a
Department of Homeland Security agency, told Reuters his own trip to Nauru was
cancelled.
Jason Marks, chief steward of the American Federation of
Government Employees Local 1924, told Reuters his trip had been pushed back –
and it was unclear whether it would even take place. The USCIS did not respond
to requests for comment.
The Australian immigration department declined to comment on
the whereabouts of the US officials or the future of a refugee-swap agreement
between Australia and the US that Donald Trump earlier this year branded a
“dumb deal”.
An indefinite postponement of the deal would have
significant repercussions for Australia’s pledge to close a second detention
centre on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island on 31 Oct. Only 70 refugees, less
than 10% of the total detainees held in the camp, have completed US processing.
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