03-02-2017, 10:41 PM
*** 3-Mar-17 World View -- Australia pays refugees cash to return home, as U.S. resettlement deal falters
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
****
**** Australia-US refugee swap deal appears to be faltering
****
![[Image: g170302b.jpg]](http://Media.GenerationalDynamics.com/ww2010/g170302b.jpg)
Accommodations for refugees at the Manus Island detention center in Papua New Guinea (Reuters)
A deal in November between President Barack Obama and Australia's
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to allow 1,250 refugees being held in
Australia's refugee centers to be resettled in the United States is
proceeding slowly.
The refugees, from countries like Bangladesh and Nepal, are living in
two "detention centers" on Pacific islands, one on Papua New Guinea's
(PNG's) Manus Island, and one on the island nation of Nauru, under
agreements that Australia reached with both countries. However, the
United Nations and international refugee activists have condemned the
refugee camps, saying that under international law, valid asylum
seekers should be resettled on Australian soil. Australia has
resisted that in order to discourage human trafficking of refugees to
Australia.
Early in February, President Donald Trump called it "the worst deal
ever," but promised to honor the deal because he was bound by
agreements made by the previous administration. He confirmed that the
US will take in up to 1,250 of these refugees, after subjecting each
of them to "extreme vetting."
However, things have been going slowly, according to Australian
officials. Although some preliminary screening has taken place,
officials from the US Department of Homeland Security had not been
authorized to start formally vetting applicants.
Australia's Immigration and Border Protection secretary Mike Pezzullo
says that he believes that the delay is only temporary:
> [indent]<QUOTE>"As we've made clear, our colleagues in Homeland
> Security are not in a position yet to start their processes but
> they'll certainly be able to conduct themselves in a very
> expedited fashion given the amount of preliminary work that's been
> done."<END QUOTE>[/indent]
There's another major wrinkle to this deal, and it was only revealed
last week.
Last September, Turnbull announced that Australia would help the
United States deal with its refugee problem by taking refugees from
Costa Rica and resettling them in Australia. When the deal to
resettle refugees from Australia in the United States was announced in
November, Turnbull repeatedly denied that it was related to the Costa
Rica deal.
So last week, that denial was suddenly abandoned, and this was
apparently no surprise to anyone in Australia. Immigration minister
Peter Dutton did a complete flip-flop and said that the government
"wouldn’t take anyone until we had assurances that people are going to
go off Nauru and Manus. We want an outcome in relation to Nauru and
Manus."
An opposition spokesman said, "I mean, look, everyone knew it was a
deal, and last night Peter Dutton, playing politics as always, belled
the cat when he made it clear that it was contingent that taking
people from Costa Rica was contingent on America taking those from
Manus and Nauru, so clearly this was a deal." Australian Broadcasting and News.com (Australia)
Related Articles
****
**** Australia and Germany paying asylum seekers cash to return home
****
Facing heavy international criticism from the United Nations and
refugee activists, Australia has agreed to close down the two
"detention centers" on Nauru and on Papua New Guinea's (PNG's) Manus
Island by the end of the year.
Australia is encouraging refugees to return to their home countries
voluntarily by taking up US$25,000 in cash, or to face deportation
otherwise. Several dozen refugees have accepted the offer, according
to reports.
Germany is also paying refugees to return to their home countries, but
a lot less. Last year, Germany paid 54,000 asylum seekers cash to
return home, for a total payout of €21.5 million ($22 million).
This would appear to average out to about €400 per refugee.
Last month, Germany announced a "voluntary return" program to offer
€1,200 ($1,275) to each asylum seeker to return home if their
asylum applications are rejected. Last year, Germany received some
700,000 asylum requests, around 60% of which were successful.
However, around 430,000 requests remained unanswered, many of which
date back to 2015 or earlier. Reuters (14-Feb) and Deutsche-Welle (20-Jan) and Reuters and Economist
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Australia, Malcolm Turnbull,
Papua New Guinea, PNG, Manus Island, Nauru.
Mike Pezzullo, Costa Rica, Peter Dutton, Germany
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
This morning's key headlines from GenerationalDynamics.com
- Australia-US refugee swap deal appears to be faltering
- Australia and Germany paying asylum seekers cash to return home
****
**** Australia-US refugee swap deal appears to be faltering
****
Accommodations for refugees at the Manus Island detention center in Papua New Guinea (Reuters)
A deal in November between President Barack Obama and Australia's
Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull to allow 1,250 refugees being held in
Australia's refugee centers to be resettled in the United States is
proceeding slowly.
The refugees, from countries like Bangladesh and Nepal, are living in
two "detention centers" on Pacific islands, one on Papua New Guinea's
(PNG's) Manus Island, and one on the island nation of Nauru, under
agreements that Australia reached with both countries. However, the
United Nations and international refugee activists have condemned the
refugee camps, saying that under international law, valid asylum
seekers should be resettled on Australian soil. Australia has
resisted that in order to discourage human trafficking of refugees to
Australia.
Early in February, President Donald Trump called it "the worst deal
ever," but promised to honor the deal because he was bound by
agreements made by the previous administration. He confirmed that the
US will take in up to 1,250 of these refugees, after subjecting each
of them to "extreme vetting."
However, things have been going slowly, according to Australian
officials. Although some preliminary screening has taken place,
officials from the US Department of Homeland Security had not been
authorized to start formally vetting applicants.
Australia's Immigration and Border Protection secretary Mike Pezzullo
says that he believes that the delay is only temporary:
> [indent]<QUOTE>"As we've made clear, our colleagues in Homeland
> Security are not in a position yet to start their processes but
> they'll certainly be able to conduct themselves in a very
> expedited fashion given the amount of preliminary work that's been
> done."<END QUOTE>[/indent]
There's another major wrinkle to this deal, and it was only revealed
last week.
Last September, Turnbull announced that Australia would help the
United States deal with its refugee problem by taking refugees from
Costa Rica and resettling them in Australia. When the deal to
resettle refugees from Australia in the United States was announced in
November, Turnbull repeatedly denied that it was related to the Costa
Rica deal.
So last week, that denial was suddenly abandoned, and this was
apparently no surprise to anyone in Australia. Immigration minister
Peter Dutton did a complete flip-flop and said that the government
"wouldn’t take anyone until we had assurances that people are going to
go off Nauru and Manus. We want an outcome in relation to Nauru and
Manus."
An opposition spokesman said, "I mean, look, everyone knew it was a
deal, and last night Peter Dutton, playing politics as always, belled
the cat when he made it clear that it was contingent that taking
people from Costa Rica was contingent on America taking those from
Manus and Nauru, so clearly this was a deal." Australian Broadcasting and News.com (Australia)
Related Articles
- Trump will honor Australia refugee deal, despite calling it 'worst deal ever' (06-Feb-2017)
- Hundreds of Australian migrants to be resettled in the United States (11-Nov-2016)
- Australia to send 'boat people' to Papua New Guinea (21-Jul-2013)
****
**** Australia and Germany paying asylum seekers cash to return home
****
Facing heavy international criticism from the United Nations and
refugee activists, Australia has agreed to close down the two
"detention centers" on Nauru and on Papua New Guinea's (PNG's) Manus
Island by the end of the year.
Australia is encouraging refugees to return to their home countries
voluntarily by taking up US$25,000 in cash, or to face deportation
otherwise. Several dozen refugees have accepted the offer, according
to reports.
Germany is also paying refugees to return to their home countries, but
a lot less. Last year, Germany paid 54,000 asylum seekers cash to
return home, for a total payout of €21.5 million ($22 million).
This would appear to average out to about €400 per refugee.
Last month, Germany announced a "voluntary return" program to offer
€1,200 ($1,275) to each asylum seeker to return home if their
asylum applications are rejected. Last year, Germany received some
700,000 asylum requests, around 60% of which were successful.
However, around 430,000 requests remained unanswered, many of which
date back to 2015 or earlier. Reuters (14-Feb) and Deutsche-Welle (20-Jan) and Reuters and Economist
KEYS: Generational Dynamics, Australia, Malcolm Turnbull,
Papua New Guinea, PNG, Manus Island, Nauru.
Mike Pezzullo, Costa Rica, Peter Dutton, Germany
Permanent web link to this article
Receive daily World View columns by e-mail
Contribute to Generational Dynamics via PayPal
John J. Xenakis
100 Memorial Drive Apt 8-13A
Cambridge, MA 02142
Phone: 617-864-0010
E-mail: john@GenerationalDynamics.com
Web site: http://www.GenerationalDynamics.com
Forum: http://www.gdxforum.com/forum
Subscribe to World View: http://generationaldynamics.com/subscribe
