The battle for influence in the sparsely populated Pacific matters because each of the tiny island states has a vote at international forums like the United Nations, and they also control vast swathes of resource-rich ocean.
Australia forces all would-be asylum-seekers into camps on two islands. Police in Manus, where one of the camps is located, removed dozens of refugees in an effort to end a stand-off that has drawn global attention to Canberra’s tough asylum-seeker policies.
About 600 asylum-seekers in an Australian offshore detention camp on Papua New Guinea are hunkering down and refusing to leave. The power has been cut off, there’s no air conditioning and food is running out.
The US agreed to resettle refugees stuck in an Australian-run offshore detention facility. But with the camp slated to be shut down in late October, not a single refugee has been approved.
The Trump Administration says will honor the ‘dumb deal’ President Obama made with Australia to resettle its offshore detainees. Could this mean a new home for Iranian cartoonist Eaten Fish?