By Lauren Crothers
PHNOM PENH
Refugees and asylum seekers detained on the South Pacific island of Nauru - many of whom are Muslim - have again expressed their opposition to Australian plans to have them resettled in Cambodia.
A video circulated by the Refugee Action Coalition on Wednesday consists of a written message that called the option to resettle in the impoverished Southeast Asian nation “very unfair.”
The video - titled “Nauru refugees have said no to Cambodia,” and allegedly produced by refugees on the island - features pictures taken during demonstrations by refugees in response to the September resettlement deal—which is worth $40 million in aid from Australia to Cambodia.
In addition, a clip from a video recorded by Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton and published by the Guardian Australia on April 22 shows him saying that plans are underway for the first transfer.
This then cuts to an audio clip of a protest on Nauru, during which refugees and asylum seekers yelled: “Cambodia, never never.”
“Despite an extraordinary effort and large money offers by Immigration officials, there are still only four refugees who have indicated they are willing to go to Cambodia,” the coalition said in a statement that accompanied the release.
“It is now clear that the government is desperately approaching asylum seekers in an effort to get people to agree to be transferred to
Cambodia.”
On Monday, the spokesman for Cambodia’s interior ministry confirmed that only four people—one Rohingya man and three Iranians—had agreed to the transfer.
The coalition claims in its statement that of these, the Iranians appear to have had their refugee status determinations fast-tracked, and that “they were determined to be refugees only five days ago.”
Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul said: "Peter Dutton's attempt to perpetrate a fraud against the refugees has been exposed. Despite his videoed threats, the vast majority of the refugees are not interested in going to Cambodia.”
