--- description: Australia and Obama administration are purported to be nearing a deal to help clear each others refugee centers outside their borders. title: Refugee Swap: U.S. and Australia Might Be Nearing Deal image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- * [World](/section/world/) ## World Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close * [Australia](/tag/australia/) ## Australia Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close # U.S. and Australia Might Be Close to a Deal on Refugee Swap by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 11, 2016 4:24 PM CUT by [Tara John](/author/tara-john/) ## Tara John Update your preferences in [Account Settings](/account/preferences/) Close Nov 11, 2016 4:24 PM CUT Australia and the Obama administration are reportedly [nearing a deal](http://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-election-gives-urgency-to-u-s-australian-refugee-accord-1478846654 "undefined") to help clear each country’s extraterritorial refugee centers. [Speculation](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/nov/11/refugees-on-nauru-and-manus-island-may-be-resettled-in-us-says-media-report "undefined") has been growing about a deal since Sept., when Australia announced at President Barack Obama’s global migration summit that it would resettle migrants from U.S.-backed detention camps in Costa Rica in exchange for the U.S. taking in refugees living on[ Australia’s Pacific Islands](http://time.com/4454490/refugee-crisis-nauru-migrants-immigration/ "undefined"), the [Wall Street _Journal_](http://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-election-gives-urgency-to-u-s-australian-refugee-accord-1478846654 "undefined") reports. Australia has some 1,800 asylum seekers in camps on islands of Nauru and Papua New Guinea, many of whom have fled conflict or economic strife from Pakistan, Iraq, Iran, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan. Critics have called these camps Australia’s ‘Guantanamo Bay,’ following [allegations](https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2016/nov/11/refugees-on-nauru-and-manus-island-may-be-resettled-in-us-says-media-report "undefined") of inhumane treatment. The need to resettle refugees has become more urgent, following Papua New Guinea’s order to close the Australian-run detention center. Australia has refused to give the detainees asylum due to its tough border blockade policy, which rules that no asylum seeker who has arrived since the law was passed can settle in the country. According to the _WSJ_, both the Australian and U.S. government have declined to comment on the deal. \[[_WSJ_](http://www.wsj.com/articles/trump-election-gives-urgency-to-u-s-australian-refugee-accord-1478846654 "undefined")\] ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/4567890/australia-refugee-deal-obama-nauru/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/4567890/australia-refugee-deal-obama-nauru/"},"headline":"U.S. and Australia Might Be Close to a Deal on Refugee Swap","datePublished":"2016-11-11T16:24:48.000Z","dateModified":"2026-02-23T01:47:00.051Z","description":"Each country will resettle migrants from the others' camps","url":"https://time.com/4567890/australia-refugee-deal-obama-nauru/","keywords":["Australia","refugee"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Tara John","jobTitle":null,"url":"https://time.com/author/tara-john/"}],"articleSection":"World","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/section/world/","name":"World"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"/tag/australia/","name":"Australia"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":3,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/4567890/australia-refugee-deal-obama-nauru/","name":"U.S. and Australia Might Be Close to a Deal on Refugee Swap"}}]}] ```