US President Donald Trump will honour a refugee deal the Obama administration penned with Australia last year, despite Trump’s new suspension of America’s refugee intake program.
A huge question mark hung over the deal – which should see a number of detainees currently in offshore detention on Manus Island and Nauru transferred to the United States – after Trump signed yesterday’s drastic executive order.
Per the ABC, Trump gave confirmation to Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull during a 25-minute-long phone call the pair had earlier today.
While the White House confirmed they spoke of “the enduring strength and closeness of the U.S.-Australia relationship,” there was no explicit mention of the refugee deal.
Prior to their conversation, Turnbull said he was “very confident and satisfied that existing arrangements will continue” due to provisions relating to international agreements within Trump’s executive order.
Before Trump’s sweeping measures, which also bar anyone from Iraq, Iran, Syria, Yemen, Sudan, Libya and Somalia from entering the US for at least 90 days, experts were confident the move would proceed as planned.
Source: ABC.
Photo: Pool / Getty.
Photo: Pool / Getty.
