CANBERRA, Australia — Australia’s prime minister said Friday that his country will not consider options for resettling refugees languishing on Pacific islands until the United States fulfills its promise to take up to 1,250 of them. More than a year after President Donald Trump reluctantly agreed to honour an Obama administration deal by resettling hundreds of refugees rejected by Australia, Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull told reporters that around 200 had so far found new homes in the United States. Australia has a policy of not allowing any refugees who try to arrive by boat to settle in the country. At a meeting with New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern in Sydney on Friday, Turnbull again rejected a longstanding New Zealand offer to accept 150 refugees. Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul, an Australia-based advocate, said Australia should immediately accept the New Zealand offer to end the unnecessary suffering of refugees who have spent close to five years on the impoverished islands.

Source: National Post March 02, 2018 03:22 UTC