US will take 400 Muslim Nauru refugees rejected by Australia

The US will resettle only a few hundred refugees from Nauru, and only families, under the deal arranged with the Australian government, Sky News has reported.

The US and Australian governments earlier this month announced an unspecified number of refugees on Nauru or Manus Island would be resettled in the US, with the assistance of the UNHCR. There were reports about 1,600 refugees would be involved.

There have been consistent questions about how many would be accepted and whether the deal would even go ahead under an administration led by Donald Trump, who campaigned on a ban on Muslim immigration. Senior Republicans have also criticised the deal.

However on Tuesday Sky News, citing US government sources, said the US would take just 300 to 400 people, and only those in family groups.

According to the report, officers from the US Department of Homeland Security would arrive on Nauru this weekend to begin their own processing of applicants, and it was not expected to be finished until well after President-elect Trump is inaugurated in January.

If only families are accepted then none of the detainees on Papua New Guinea’s Manus Island – all single men – will be eligible, and the Australian and PNG governments remain at an impasse about....

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