New US Travel Ban Not to Affect Australia-US Refugee Deal - Turnbull

The new executive order on immigration signed by US President Donald Trump will not have an impact on the implementation of the US-Australia deal on resettlement of refugees, Australian Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said Tuesday.

MOSCOW (Sputnik) — On Monday, Trump signed a new executive order on immigration that blocks individuals from six Muslim-majority countries from entering the United States, as well as suspends the Refugees Admissions program for the next 120 days. Unlike the first order signed in January and suspended by a court in February, Iraqi nationals are not included in the new ban which applies to citizens of  Iran, Libya, Somalia, Sudan, Syria and Yemen.

"No, the President has agreed to honour, continue with, the arrangements entered into with his predecessor," Turnbull told reporters, speaking about the potential impact of the reinstated travel ban on the deal between Washington and Canberra, as cited by The Sydney Morning Herald.

In November 2016, former Trump's predecessor Barack Obama and Turnbull concluded a one-time deal to resettle refugees, detained in Australian processing centers on the Manus Island in Papua New Guinea and Nauru in the South Pacific.

Australia puts refugees coming to the country to offshore detention camps, while processing their application for asylum. This immigration policy has been criticized by different right groups especially after revelations of large-scale human rights violations at the offshore facilities by media in 2016.