The tiny Pacific island of Nauru, still housing asylum-seekers who were bound for Australia. Photo: Angela Wylie
- UN refugee agency wants no part of Cambodia resettlement
- Refugees to be given better conditions in Cambodia
Bangkok: Australia has secretly flown four refugees slated to be resettled in Cambodia from the tiny Pacific island of Nauru to Darwin from where they will be flown to Phnom Penh.
But Cambodian officials who are insisting on vetting the refugees before approving their arrival have not been told about the move.
The Nauru detention centre in 2013 after rioting and fires destroyed much of it.
"We don't have any official information about this," Kerm Sarin of the Ministry of Interior's Refugee Department told the Phnom Penh Post, adding that a government delegation that visited Nauru in April to assess the refugees' applications had not yet submitted their report to the government.
Asked about the secret flight, a spokeswoman for Australia's Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said: "Arrangements are ongoing and we haven't been and won't be commenting further".
The refugees, an Iranian couple, an Iranian man and a Rohingya man arrived in Darwin on Sunday and they are staying at immigration accommodation near Darwin airport.
Phosphate mining in Nauru has left an arid landscape. Photo: Angela Wylie
A source told Fairfax Media they are expected to be flown to Cambodia within two weeks.
Mr Dutton has complained in the past that refugees on Nauru had been pressuring others on the island not to accept the Cambodian deal.
Cambodian officials were "shocked" to learn last month that Australian immigration officials on Nauru had told refugees and asylum seekers they could fly to Cambodia as early as April 20 if they accepted up to $15,000 and offers of accommodation, food, training and other benefits to give up their hopes of living in Australia to go to Cambodia, one of Asia's poorest nations with a poor human rights record.
Daily life in the Steung Meanchey district of Phnom Penh in 2013. Photo: Ben Rushton
Refugee advocates say among the promises made to asylum seekers was to have their applications for refugee status fast-tracked if they agreed to go to Cambodia..
The Abbott government announced in Tuesday's budget that Australia's aid to Cambodia would be left intact, despite slashing aid to other south-east Asian nations.
Australia has pledged an additional $40 million to Cambodia for accepting refugees from Nauru in a deal that has been widely condemned by Cambodia's opposition parties and human rights and refugee advocate groups.
In Phnom Penh, officials of the Interior Ministry are unhappy with having to receive refugees from Australia with a source pointing out the meaning for "hell" in the Cambodian language is Nauru.
But the deal has the backing of strongman prime minister Hun Sen who oversaw the negotiations for his country to receive the additional $40 million in aid.
Refugee advocates point out that if only four refugees agree to make the journey to Cambodia the cost to Australian taxpayers will be well in excess of $10 million per head.
with Sarah Whyte
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