Australia should be responsible

ASYLUM seekers to Australia have reached alarming proportions in recent years.
Canberra has opted for options that it thinks might act as a deterrent..
One of the options for deterring people seeking asylum in Australia is the Refugee Resettlement Arrangement (RRA) of 2013 between the governments of PNG and Australia.
The arrangement covers the transfer, processing and resettlement of refugees in PNG financed by the Australia government.
The initial transfer of 1550 asylum seekers in 2013, and the subsequent processing, have revealed that some were refugees while some were non-refugees. This mixture of asylum seekers reflects yet another big regional problem with human smuggling and trafficking.
The government of PNG perhaps has taken the right approach to enter the RRA because it has the duty to counter human smuggling and trafficking in the region.
So far all the asylum seekers at Manus have been processed and they await the next stage which is resettlement.
Resettlement is only for refugees whereas non-refugees will be deported to their initial destinations.
The RRA therefore has done well for the issue of human smuggling and trafficking for both countries and the region at large.
The only issue going forward is the consistency of financing for the operations of the refugee camp in Manus. Australia should take care until the last person leaves the camp.

Mike Haro