Turnbull: Australia Not Indebted to US Over Refugee Resettlement Deal

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull on Sunday refuted suggestions that Australia would be indebted to the United States and forced to provide military assistance due to the refugee resettlement deal between Washington and Canberra, in an interview with Nine News.

On Saturday, Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop confirmed that the one-time deal to resettle refugees from Australian processing facilities to the United States would be honored by the US administration.

"We assess all requests for military assistance on their merits. And there is no linkage, no linkage at all between an arrangement relating to a refugee resettlement and any other matters," Turnbull responded, when asked if he saw himself as indebted, and therefore forced to provide troops for a potential US "Middle Eastern adventure."

In November, former US President Barack Obama and Turnbull concluded a deal to resettle refugees, currently detained in Australian offshore detention camps on the Manus Island in Papua New Guinea and Nauru in the South Pacific, facilitated by the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.

US President Donald Trump has spoken critically of the agreement reached by Australia and previous US administration, which led to the general uncertainty, with some media reports suggesting that the deal would fall though.

The Australian processing facilities reportedly hold over 1,200 migrants.