Peter Dutton holds 'productive' talks in Cambodia over refugee resettlement
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Version 0 of 1. Immigration minister Peter Dutton spent his second day in Cambodia meeting the country’s top immigration official and holding “productive” talks with representatives from the International Organisation for Migration, who are resettling refugees previously detained on Nauru. General Sok Phal, director general of Cambodia’s Department of Immigration, told Guardian Australia before his 6pm meeting with Dutton on Thursday that it was beyond his capacity to discuss the talks or the deal itself, referring questions to interior ministry spokesman Khieu Sopheak, who could not be reached. The IOM, which is not a party to the deal but contracted to assist in the resettlement of the refugees in Phnom Penh, said after the meeting that it would continue to provide “a robust suite of settlement services”. Related: One of four refugees sent to Cambodia under $55m deal 'wants to go home' “Those services will continue to include language training, cultural orientation, health insurance, social support, housing and employment counselling.” As the first anniversary of the $55m memorandum of understanding approaches later this month, Dutton’s visit has seemingly sought to limit the fallout from comments made late last month by Sopheak, who claimed there were “no plans” for Cambodia to accept any more refugees from Nauru. Dutton arrived unannounced on Wednesday, meeting with Cambodian prime minister Hun Sen and interior minister Sar Kheng, who inked the deal with Dutton’s predecessor, Scott Morrison, a year ago. To date, just three Iranians and a Rohingya man have made the transition from detention on Nauru to life in a gated villa in a southern district in Phnom Penh, where they learn Khmer and are being prepared for integration into Cambodian society. In a statement released by his office on Thursday, Dutton praised the Cambodian government’s “commitment” to the transfer deal “and to fresh measures to accelerate the integration of refugees into Cambodian society.” However, these efforts have done little to mitigate the fact that one of the four — the lone Rohingya man in his 20s — has asked to be sent back to Myanmar after living in Cambodia for only a little over three months. Hundreds of thousands of Rohingya have fled Myanmar over the past few years as their persecution has intensified. Cambodian immigration chief Phal told Guardian Australia the repatriation of the Rohingya refugee from Nauru could happen in “one month”. “Now, the ministries of foreign affairs and interior are finished [with the case], and the Myanmar embassy needs time for the report to go to the Myanmar government, then maybe they will reply to us [if the request is granted].” A Rohingya refugee living in Cambodia, who spoke to Guardian Australia on condition of anonymity because he fears for the safety of his family in Myanmar, said the young man’s isolation and lack of integration has likely been a deciding factor. He and at least two other Rohingya refugees living in Phnom Penh have expressed an interest in meeting the new arrival. They are concerned about the young man’s repatriation request and recent remarks from a Myanmar embassy official referring to Rohingya as Bengali, and are keen to reassure him that, lonely and hard as Cambodia may be, a return to Myanmar would be incredibly dangerous. |