Officials Begin Interviewing Refugees on Manus Island for U.S. Resettlement
U.S. Homeland Security officials have started an “extreme vetting” process for refugees at Australia’s offshore detention centre on Manus Island who want to be resettled in the U.S., Reuters reported.
The security interviews are one of the conditions of the “refugee swap” deal agreed with the U.S., under which up to 1,250 asylum seekers from the offshore detention centers will be resettled in the U.S.
In exchange, Central American refugees in a Costa Rican detention center will be eligible to resettle in Australia.
Asylum seekers were asked to take an oath of honesty and were questioned about friends, family and acquaintances and any links to the so-called Islamic State during the security check, according to sources.
Security interviews have also begun at Australia’s other offshore detention center on Nauru, with 220 asylum seekers going through the process there.
Those who underwent the vetting process will find out if they have been offered resettlement in the U.S. within a month.
Italy, Libya, Chad and Niger Agree on Migrant Deal
Italy, Libya, Chad and Niger have agreed a new migrant deal that will increase border security and establish new reception centers in Chad and Niger.
Interior ministers from the four countries announced the deal in a statement released Sunday.
This is the latest attempt to curtail the influx of migrants and refugees attempting to reach Europe.
The parties to the deal promised that new reception centers in Chad and Niger and the current ones in Libya would satisfy “international humanitarian standards.”
Critics have condemned the new deal, however, saying that the centers will not meet these standards.
“Libyan legislation criminalizes illegal immigration so it is not clear how these could be reception centers and not detention centers,” said Mattia Toaldo, a European Council on Foreign Relations expert.
Renewed Violence Displaces Thousands in Northern Mali
Thousands of people in northern Mali have fled their homes due to communal violence and armed conflict in the country, according to the International Organization for Migration (IOM).
Some 14,223 people have become internally displaced since February, with the total number of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in the country now reaching nearly 60,000, according to the organization’s latest data.
Armed conflict in northern Mali and a subsequent military coup in January 2012 forced hundreds of thousands of people from their homes.
Although it has reduced over the past months, the communal fighting that broke out in 2016 displaced an additional 31,000 people. The IOM is now promoting “stabilization” and assistance so that all IDPs can potentially return home by the end of 2017.
Recommended Reads
- International Rescue Committee: Far From Home, How One Congolese Refugee Is Building a Future on Bread
- BuzzFeed News: Amir, a Gay Man Detained on Manus Island, Faces an Impossible Choice
- Human Rights Watch: E.U.: Older Refugees Stranded in Greece
- Deutsche Welle: Refugee Children Face Psychological Trauma in Germany
- The Washington Post: Hong Kong’s Refugees Find Comfort Through Love of Soccer