Cambodia received four asylum seekers from Australia transferred from Nauru as part of a Memorandum of Understanding that will see Cambodia receive $40 million over the next four years. Human Rights Watch said the deal will ‘have a harshly negative impact on protection of refugees throughout the region.’
The Nauruan government asked Australia for a specialist medical team to treat and 11-year old refugee with a badly broken arm. The Department of Immigration and Border Protection planned to send the boy to India for treatment. The Commonwealth and Immigration Ombudsman released a report which showed that asylum seekers, are spending nearly five years in Australian immigration detention.
The recently passed Australian Border Force Act provides that doctors and teachers working in immigration detention facilities could face up to two years in prison if they speak out against conditions in the centres or provide information to journalists. The Australian Medical Association, constitutional lawyers and Doctors for Refugees criticised the Act.
Australian authorities allegedly turned back a boat carrying 65 asylum seekers headed for New Zealand after it crashed into a reef in Indonesia. The asylum seekers have since been detained in West Timor, Indonesia.