Australia engages second agency for sole refugee in Cambodia

ABC | 11 August 2016

The Australian Government has refused to explain why it has added a second refugee resettlement agency in Cambodia, when only one person has resettled there from Nauru.

Key points:

• Connect Settlement Agency says its program will be "very small"
• Five refugees were resettled from Nauru to Cambodia, but only one remains
• Immigration declined to say why the new agency is needed

Under the $55 million Australia-Cambodia deal, the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) was contracted to provide services for the Nauru refugees.

Australia has now engaged Connect Settlement Agency (CSA) to provide additional support.

"We are providing services in Cambodia but it's a very small program," said Laurie Nowell, spokesman for AMES Australia, a partner organisation with CSA.

Mr Nowell said the arrangement had only been in place for a short time and referred further questions to the Australian Government.

Australia pledged $40 million in aid money to the Cambodian Government to secure the deal, and allocated $15.5 million for resettlement services.

In total, five refugees resettled from Nauru to Cambodia, but four have since chosen to go back to their countries of origin.

The single participant remaining, a Rohingya man,told the ABC in June he was unhappy and desperate to leave.

Mohammed Roshid complained about the assistance he received and said he was told Australia's financial support for his resettlement would cease around the end of the year.

Questions remain over need for new agency

IOM said it was not able to comment on why another resettlement agency was now being brought in by Australia.

"I can simply reiterate that IOM continues to provide services to refugees in Cambodia, and should any additional ones come from Nauru, we will continue to provide services," said Joe Lowry, regional spokesman for IOM.

"For questions on what services Connect [Settlement Agency] is providing to the one refugee, you need to ask them, or the Australians."

PHOTO: Then-immigration minister Scott Morrison toasts the refugee deal in Phnom Penh (Getty Images: Omar Havana, file)

The ABC sought clarification from the Australian Department of Immigration and Border Protection.

"IOM remains a key partner in the delivery of services to Nauru-determined refugees who volunteer to resettle in Cambodia," a spokesperson said.

"The Australian Government also works with other settlement service providers to ensure that refugees voluntarily settled in Cambodia are provided with the full support and services required to be able to integrate well into their new community in Cambodia."

The Immigration Department declined to answer specific questions about why the new agency was needed, when it started or what it was doing in Cambodia.

At the time the Cambodia resettlement program was announced, another organisation called Hagar was said to be providing additional services.

But Hagar's website suggests it is not currently providing assistance to Mr Roshid.

"Hagar's Refugee Project currently supports 36 individuals — 14 UNHCR refugee cases and one UNHCR asylum case," Hagar said on its website.