The International Organization for Migration (IOM) said Tuesday that the arrival in Phnom Penh of four refugees as part of a resettlement deal between Australia and Cambodia was likely Wednesday, according to the Sydney Morning Herald.
According the newspaper’s report, a spokesman for the IOM, which is assisting with the resettlements, said their arrival Wednesday was “likely but not confirmed.”
The four are the first to have volunteered for the program, under which Cambodia has agreed to resettle an unspecified number of the hundreds of refugees Australia is holding on the island nation of Nauru in return for $31 million of additional aid.
Cambodia approved their applications two weeks ago but has yet to say when they will arrive.
Contacted Tuesday, an IOM spokesman declined to confirm or deny the reported remarks on the refugees’ imminent arrival.
“We are ready for them to arrive, but we are not sure when that will be,” he said. Cambodian officials could not be reached for comment Tuesday.
