Cambodia has agreed "in principle" to resettle asylum seekers bound for Australia, after weeks of speculation as to whether the controversial deal would go ahead.
On Tuesday night, Cambodia's Secretary of State at the Foreign Affairs Ministry said the decision for the south east Asian country to resettle asylum seekers had been made.
"In principle, the government has agreed ... and we will do the work according to international standards," said Ouch Borith, Secretary of State at the Foreign Affairs Ministry.
Mr Borith met with a representative of the United Nations on Tuesday in Phnom Penh.
Human rights groups have condemned the Abbott government for seeking an agreement to send asylum seekers to Cambodia, one of South-East Asia's poorest countries, which has one of the worst human rights records in Asia.
The country is dependent on hundreds of millions of dollars a foreign aid, with Australia sending $US244 million to Phnom Penh over the past three years.
The United Nations refugee agency has warned resettlement countries are obliged to deliver education and labour rights and “not just safety.”
“Cambodia is a country that has its own set of difficulties, including economically,” Volker Turk, the UNHCR’s director of international protection,” said on Tuesday.
“I don’t want to speculate. The government has not contacted us on this . . . it’s not just about safety, it’s about fundamental human rights.” he said.
Mr Morrison has not publicly revealed details of the agreement.
But he said in a television interview on April 10 it would involve asylum seekers currently detained on the tiny South Pacific nation of Nauru.
Phil Robertson, deputy director of Human Rights Watch’s Asia division, said Cambodia’s capacity to take care of asylum seekers or refugees is low and Australia is shirking its international obligations.
“Uighurs from China or human rights activists from Vietnam can explain about Cambodia’s shoddy record towards refugees,” he said.
“This proposal is absolutely shameful and deserves public condemnation across the region, from Phnom Penh to Canberra, and by the UNHCR.”
Human rights lawyer David Manne said Cambodia did not have the capacity to ensure that the basic needs of refugees were met now or into the future.
He said the Australian government would be sending to refugees to a country with one of the worst human rights records in the region and a country which was presently engulfed by a human rights crisis of brutal repression.
“There are real concerns about people’s safety,” he told ABC radio on Wednesday.
“Beyond that there are indeed other obligations that Australia has committed to at the international community in relation to refugees.”
He said that included a commitment not to move refugees around the world to precarious situations where their safety could not be guaranteed.
“This is a real concern in a country like Cambodia, a country that really in many respects is barely able to look after the basic needs of its own population,” he said.
The UN Deputy High Commissioner for Human Rights Flavia Pansieri, who is visiting Cambodia said the United Nations would provide support.
"What we think is important is to note that Cambodia is well aware of its international commitment to human rights standards," Ms Pansieri said.
"To the extent there is any need for cooperation, we stand ready to provide support to ensure that standards are met."
The announcement comes as the 1177 asylum seekers in Nauru were told they would be given a temporary five-year visa on the island and would be given work rights for the same amount of time, but would not be permanently resettled there.
Immigration Minister Scott Morrison told Fairfax Media last week he was trying to expand the "club" of nations willing to take refugees, regardless of their economic capacity, suggesting that Cambodia was a step closer to becoming a resettlement country that would accept refugees once the temporary resettlement has expired on Nauru.
"Without mentioning names, when you have a country that’s willing to be engaged in [resettlement], an experienced country that is willing to sponsor it and a third country that is a signatory country like Nauru that is also party to all of this ... That would seem to be a positive thing and something that should be encouraged."
Last Friday, the Interior Minister of Cambodia, Sar Kheng told The Phnom Pehn Post that nothing had been decided, and negotiations were still on the table.
“As of now we have not decided yet,” Kheng told reporters in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. “It is being [considered], but no decision has been made at all.”
Cambodia, which in the 1970s and 1980s saw a huge exodus of refugees fleeing war and starvation, has long been criticised by international advocate groups for its questionable human rights record.
with Lindsay Murdoch and Reuters
