The first refugees accepted under a contentious agreement with Australia are headed to the United States, months after President Donald Trump assailed the deal as "dumb" and not in the country's best interests.
Fifty-four asylum-seeking refugees left Pacific island camps this week where Australia had housed them for several years. Twenty-five refugees came from an all-male camp in Papua New Guinea's Manus Island, while the other 27 refugees came from a camp on the island of Nauru, according to a U.S. State Department official. Some advocacy groups have said the refugees are set to settle in cities from Los Angeles to Atlanta.
The resettlement of the refugees, mostly men from countries such as Iran, Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq and Somalia, is part of a deal forged between the United States and Australia under the Obama administration.
Under the agreement, about 1,250 refugees who have been refused entry to Australia, and who are now housed in offshore detention centers, will be accepted by the U.S. In exchange, Australia, will accept Honduran and Salvadoran refugees under a U.S.-led resettlement program from a camp in Costa Rica.
Shortly after his inauguration, Trump tweeted he would "study this dumb deal," raising concerns that he might nix it. And in his first conversation with Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull, Trump heatedly accused Australia of trying to export the next Boston Marathon bombers to America.
"Does anybody know who these people are? Who are they? Where do they come from?" he said, according to transcripts of the call obtained by The Washington Post. "Are they going to become the Boston bomber in five years? Or two years? Who are these people?"
Trump added, "We are like a dumping ground for the rest of the world. I have been here for a period of time, I just want this to stop. I look so foolish doing this."
Since his inauguration Trump has signed several executive orders barring entry to travelers from several majority Muslim countries. On Sunday, Trump announced a new ban on travel to the U.S. by nationals from majority Muslim countries as well as North Korea and Venezuela.
Ian Rintoul, a spokesman for the Refugee Action Coalition, which is based in Sydney, said the arrival of the refugees associated with the Australia agreement is a positive.
"But the movement of just 50 people, shows the level of uncertainty that surrounds the deal with the USA," he said.
"It has been 10 months since the refugees had their first interviews, and there is no indication of when any more refugees who have applied will be accepted into the U.S.," he said.
Rintoul said the Australian government should remove the remaining refugees from the island encampments.
"The refugees on Manus and Nauru remain the responsibility of the Australian government," he said. "The government should make sure that no one is left behind. All the people on Manus and Nauru should be brought to the mainland while the government makes arrangements for those who want to go to the USA."
Many of the asylum seekers have reportedly endured harsh treatment in the refugee camps. Cases of depression and self-harm are high, according to reports that have been leaked from the centers.
Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch published a report last year which found that Australia inflicted suffering on refugees and asylum seekers "in what appears to be a deliberate policy to deter further asylum seekers from arriving in the country by boat."
In May, the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees said that prolonged detention on the islands was "immensely harmful" and called for refugees and asylum seekers to be moved and treated humanely.
