20 Sep 2016

Nauru calls for help to resettle refugees

2:39 pm on 20 September 2016

Nauru's Justice Minister David Adeang has called for help at the United Nations to resettle the hundreds of refugees living in limbo on the island.

Speaking at a refugee and migrant summit in New York before the 71st General Assembly, Mr Adeang described Nauru's offshore regional processing system with Australia as an innovative model, which had avoided thousands of deaths at sea.

He said Nauru was proud of the system, which had been effective - apart from a crucial missing element.

"Nauru invites other countries to assist in finding durable resettlement solutions for our refugees. This is the critical missing component.

"Remote processing is one part of what needs to be a comprehensive migration strategy. I encourage states today to assist us find permanent homes for the 924 refugee men, women and children currently on Nauru."

Mr Adeang said now Nauru had the infrastructure and systems in place, it was well-placed to be a processing and transition place to address migration flows.

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