Asylum seekers get hard sell on Cambodia as alternative destination to Australia
Australian government presents idyllic picture of Southeast Asian country as alternative destination for asylum seekers it refuses to accept
Still haunted by the Vietnam war next door and the 1970s genocide that followed, Cambodia is not exactly the place that the world's refugees dream of reaching.
Plagued by poverty, corruption and human rights abuses, it has been run by a prime minister who has held power for 30 years. It's a nation where medical care outside main cities is nonexistent, where decent jobs are so scarce that more than 800,000 of its own people have left.
Yet when it comes to 700 asylum seekers detained on the remote Pacific Island nation of Nauru, Australia is hard-selling Cambodia as something unexpected: their new promised land of opportunity.
In a video message to asylum seekers on Nauru, Australian Immigration Minister Peter Dutton - whose nation has said it will never take the migrants - touted Cambodia as "vibrant country with a stable economy and varied employment opportunities... with a blend of many nationalities, cultures and religions."
"An opportunity for a new life is now before you," Dutton said. "While it's not Australia, Cambodia offers you safety, security and opportunity."
The 700 asylum seekers on Nauru, many from as far away as Iran, Sri Lanka and Myanmar, have been stuck there since 2013. Australia funds a detention centre there similar to another on Papua New Guinea that temporarily houses intercepted migrants who have attempted dangerous journeys across the sea.