Some Nauru refugees against, but many for US offer

Transcript

IAN RINTOUL: There is a big spread of opinion on Nauru but there is no question that there are several hundred people who are interested and have already indicated that they're interested to find out more about what the US really is going to offer them. One of the problems I have is there still is precious little detail about actually what the US resettlement means, what it means for reuniting families and the possibility of reuniting families, how quickly the whole thing is going to proceed and whether there are any options. So, it's equally the case that there are many people whose relatives are in other countries, including Australia and New Zealand, and for whom the United States holds no real prospects of a kind of secure future that they want and they expected. So some people are certainly not interested in the US deal.

DON WISEMAN: Where's is at, in terms of preparing for it?

IR: It's not really even off first base. All that's happened so far is that the border force in Nauru has asked people to indicate, to make an expression of interest by putting their name on a piece of paper, that's as far as it's got. There's always rumours floating around that officials of one sort or another are about to be on Nauru, that interviews are about to happen. There is no indication that that is what is about to happen. We have been told by the Australian government that there are US officials, associated with this deal in some respects, somewhere or other in Canberra. The role that they're playing, the next steps that may come as a result of that, they have not been public so the whole problem with the lack of transparency that has always surrounded Nauru still surrounds the deal. People on Nauru are now being told that it certainly will be some months before there's any resettlement prospects. The whole thing is not going to be hurried. In their words, it's very unclear whether Donald Trump's election, how that is going to influence it but certainly people who are in Australia have been told that there are no guarantees. If they go from Australia back to Nauru there are no guarantees that they will get resettlement in the US so I think until there is more detail and more indication of exactly what the US deal means for people then the cloud of doubt is going to still surround it. But it is very clear, one thing is very clear, that it would seem that there are certainly some hundreds of people are likely to be left behind. Many of us feel the priority has been given to family and children. The people on Manus Island have been told they won't even be considered until Nauru is dealt with. Nauru has been told it's going to be some months. So it looks like we could easily have a situation in six months or a year's time: we've still got hundreds of people on Nauru and Manus Island in exactly the same situation as they are today.

DW: In terms of this 'never allowing any of these refugees into Australia', a lifetime ban, will that apply to these people?

IR: Well we are very hopeful that the lifetime ban is just going to disappear. It does seem that the government will lose it if it tries to put it to the Senate and at the moment it would seem that the government is not going to attempt to put it to the Senate so that the lifetime ban is not going to happen.