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Australian government promised mosques, jobs and football to refugees
Sydney Morning Herald - June 7, 2015
Despite being haunted by a 1970s genocide and years of civil war, the former French colony had no violent crime or even stray dogs, they said. And a loaf of bread costs $2.65, a pack of cigarettes $1.59 and a meal at one of the country's restaurants a bargain-priced $4.53.
But hours before four of the refugees flew into Phnom Penh on a one-way ticket on Thursday, Cambodia scored a dismal 99th out of 102 countries on a survey based on key indicators including corruption and fundamental rights.
Only Zimbabwe, Afghanistan and Venezuela fared worse on the World Justice Project's Rule of Law Index.
The Iranian couple, Iranian man and a Rohingya man from Myanmar were whisked away from the airport to a life in one of the world's poorest nations, where about 18 per cent of the country's 15 million people survive on less than $1.22 a day.
The refugees' arrival was part of a top-secret operation with military-style planning.
A leaked Australian Immigration Department document showed that in their first 12 months in Cambodia they will be showered with benefits that millions of Cambodians can only dream about.
Their "case manager" would be waiting to provide cash, villa-style accommodation, help finding work, language training, health insurance, an orientation to life in Cambodia and help bringing their families to the country to join them.
They had already received $15,000 and at least three of them had their applications for refugee status fast-tracked in return for agreeing to make the journey to Cambodia, refugee advocates said.
A Senate committee in Canberra has been told the cost so far for providing services to support the resettlement of the refugees, including health and education training, is a staggering $15.5 million.
The deal is a long-awaited diplomatic triumph for Cambodia's strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen, whose regime will pocket an additional $40 million from Australian taxpayers in exchange for agreeing to accept the refugees.
For more than 30 years the former company commander of the murderous Khmer Rouge has used persecution, violence, repression and corruption to remain in power, multiple reports by human rights and other groups say.
Australian writer Sebastian Strangio, who has just published a book, Hun Sen's Cambodia, says very little of billions of dollars of aid money that Western governments have sent to Cambodia has reached the country's impoverished masses.
In the meantime, Mr Hun Sen and 20 or more of his closest associates have amassed billions of dollars in personal wealth, prompting Cambodia to be ranked near the bottom of Transparency International's index of 175 nations.
As Australia's propaganda on Nauru portrayed Cambodia as a developing-nation utopia, Mr Hun Sen's regime has pushed a new law to severely limit the rights of non-government organisations operating in the country, has continued to block new prosecutions at a United Nations-run tribunal on the Khmer Rouge's genocide and refused protection for asylum-seekers fleeing persecution in Vietnam's Western Highlands.
The Abbott government threw huge diplomatic resources into getting the first four people to Cambodia after the deal was made public by Cambodian officials in February 2014 during a visit to the country by Foreign Minister Julie Bishop.
Weeks before the deal was signed in September 2014 at a champagne-sipping ceremony in Phnom Penh, Australia boosted the number of staff at its embassy in Phnom Penh by 10, including an immigration official and two senior bureaucrats to oversee the deal.
The operation was headed by Major-General Andrew Bottrell, commander of Australia's Joint Agency Task Force for Operation Sovereign Borders.
Senior Australian officials made numerous trips to Cambodia and Cambodian officials flew to Nauru at least twice, where some refugees put up signs saying they were not welcome.
There was at least one secret high-level meeting in January 2015 as pressure grew on the Nauru refugees to accept the deal.
Australia told the refugees they had only three options: go to Cambodia, return to their home country or remain languishing on Nauru.
"You will not under any circumstances be settling in Australia. This is not an option the Australian government will ever present to you," Immigration Minister Peter Dutton said in a video message to them in April.
Australia's efforts to get the deal off the ground came amid fierce criticism in Cambodia and internationally.
The United Nations agency responsible for refugees (UNHCR) refused to play any role despite the fact that the Australian and Cambodian governments had both said earlier they were relying on it to help implement the resettlement program.
The UNHCR, which has an office in Phnom Penh, said it was "deeply concerned" at the precedent set by the agreement.
"Refugees are persons fleeing persecution or the life-threatening effects of armed conflict," UNHCR commissioner Antonio Guterres said. "They are entitled to better treatment than being shipped from one country to the next."
The UNHCR has consistently advocated for asylum seekers to have their claims assessed and to benefit from protection in the territory of the state where they arrive or which has jurisdiction over them.
The United Nations Children's Fund (Unicef) also raised concerns about the agreement, saying Australia was violating the rights of children who would be taken to Cambodia.
Australia instead turned to the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), an agency made up of 152 member states, to deal with the Australian-sent arrivals, pledging an undisclosed amount of money.
But throughout weeks of negotiations late in 2014 the IOM insisted on several conditions, including that about 70 UN-registered refugees already living in the country would receive similar entitlements to the Australian-sent arrivals.
The IOM approached Cambodian non-government organisations to assist in programs to resettle the refugees but some refused, saying that like the UNHCR they would not be part of a flawed deal.
One organisation that has accepted is the Australian organisation Hagar, which supports women and child victims of trafficking, domestic violence and exploitation.
Its role is believed to be to provide vocational training. Hagar has declined to comment.
The IOM is no stranger to Australian government money. Recent figures show that during this financial year (2014-15) the organisation was given $6.3 million to arrange returns for asylum seekers who agreed to return to their home country.
Senate Estimates show that $2.1 million alone was spent sending asylum seekers on Nauru and Manus Island back to their country of origin.
In Canberra, Australian immigration officials defended the cost of the deal, saying it is hoped that more refugees will reverse their opposition and make the journey to Cambodia.
Other countries with refugee issues, such as Italy, France and Germany, are watching closely to see if it is possible to resettle refugees in developing countries.
Michael Pezzullo, head of the Immigration Department, described suggestions the deal had cost more than $10 million a head as "humorous and sarcastic".
Australian officials have been cagey about disclosing details of the diplomatic effort they undertook to secure the deal.
But they are known to be worried about how the refugees will integrate in a country that has traditionally seen its citizens fleeing to other countries and has little experience in resettling non-Cambodian refugees. "We do not want them to become zoo exhibits," Mr Pezzullo told the Senate committee.
Most of the refugees already registered in Cambodia have complained of discrimination and say they want to leave the country.
Mohammed Ibrahim, a 32-year-old Rohingya who fled Myanmar's troubled Arakan state five years ago, says the newly arrived refugees will find life difficult in Cambodia.
Mr Ibrahim, who sells roti bread from a street cart, says business is down and he hopes to get approval to migrate to Canada. "Unless the government here changes its ways and starts to treat refugees like adults it is difficult to be optimistic about the future for the new people," he said.
[With Sarah Whyte.]
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