Resettlement of refugee agreement has been signed between Australia and United .State of America

Australia citizens with her flag in protest

After so many struggle to reach an agreement, finally Australia and the United State has reached a resettlement deal  for refugees that has been held in Papua New Guinea and Nauru in attempt to cross over to Australia by boat, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull.

Any migrants trying to reach Australia through the sea are always sent to Papua New Guinea for proper check-up and processing before the asylum seekers are allowed to enter into the country because the Australia border is so tight that the migrants had to go through all of that stressful process.

A report says about 1,200 asylum seekers are held on the Island of Nauru of Papua New Guinea in Africa for more than three-years now.

"I can now confirm that the Government has reached a further third country resettlement arrangement for refugees presently in the regional processing centres. The agreement is with the United States," Turnbull told a press conference in Canberra.

The agreement, to be administered with the UN High Commission on Refugees, is available only to those currently in the processing centres and will not be repeated.

Turnbull would not say exactly how many refugees would be resettled in the United States, but said women, children and families would be prioritised.

Detainees who have had applications for refugee status rejected should return to their countries, he said.

Australia’s offshore detention policy for ‘boat people’ has drawn widespread condemnation both at home and overseas amid reports of harsh conditions and systemic child abuse.

The deal relieves a major headache for Turnbull, whose poll numbers fell to a 14-month low last week, raising speculation of fresh political turbulence in a country that has had four leaders in six years.

Abdul Aziz, 24, who has spent more than three years on Manus Island after fleeing his home in Sudan in 2013, was very happy.

"All the refugees were smiling and hugging each other. This nightmare is going to end finally, but the main question is when and how and how we get out of here," he told Reuters.

U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry told reporters while visiting New Zealand on Sunday: "We in the United States have agreed to consider referrals from UNHCR on refugees now residing in Nauru and in Papua New Guinea."

The election of Donald Trump, who has threatened to ban Muslims from entering the United States and championed anti-immigration policies, has injected uncertainty into the deal.

But Turnbull said the "agreement was reached some time ago. There is a great deal of preparation and planning that has gone into it and, indeed, in leading up to this announcement."

No timeline was given for the process.

Amnesty International last month said as many of 410 men, women and children held on Nauru are being driven to the brink as a result of treatment that amounted to “torture”.

Papua New Guinea has said it will close the Manus Island centre, but the Nauru facility will remain open.

Asylum seekers who refuse offers to resettle in a third country or to return home will be offered a 20-year visa to stay on Nauru, but no financial support, Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said.

Once rich in phosphate, Nauru has limited economic resources and the Australian-funded detention centre provides the tiny island state’s most significant revenue stream.

Source: Cyprusmail..............