US President Donald Trump committed to honour the US-Australia deal to resettle refugees currently held on Manus Island and Nauru in the United States. The commitment came just days after Trump signed an executive order suspending all refugee admissions into the US for 120 days, barring Syrian refugees indefinitely, and banning travel to the US for 90 days from seven majority Muslim countries – Iran, Iraq, Somalia, Syria, Sudan, Libya and Yemen.
In the days between Trump signing the order and committing to honour the US-Australia deal, an Iranian refugee being held on Nauru attempted suicide. The teenager, who has been held on Nauru since 2013, attempted to hang himself before being arrested and taken to jail.
Ahwazi Arab Loghman Sawari, an Iranian refugee who spent more than three years on Manus Island, fled to Fiji and is seeking asylum there. Sawari stated: ‘The people [in Fiji] have made me feel safe. I was never, not for one day, safe in PNG.’