SYDNEY, Jan 31, 2025 (BSS/AFP) - Australia's government says a group of US-
bound refugees has been caught up in President Donald Trump's crackdown on
migration.

Trump issued an executive decree within hours of taking office on January 20,
halting arrivals of all refugees to the United States.

Under a 2016 US-Australia agreement, up to 1,250 refugees being held in
Australian offshore detention centres were able to seek resettlement in the
United States.

By the end of August last year, 1,106 refugees had already moved to the
United States, the Australian government said.

"Less than 30 transitory individuals continue to pursue resettlement in the
United States through the US resettlement arrangement -- cases are at various
stages of the process," said a spokesperson for the Department of Home
Affairs.

Trump's order affected all refugee applications, including from people
temporarily in Australia, the spokesperson said in a statement provided to
AFP on Friday.

Australia was "awaiting further advice" from the United States about its
plans for the refugee resettlement program, the department said.

Under a hardline policy introduced in 2012, Australia sent thousands of
migrants attempting to reach the country by boat to "offshore processing"
centres.

They were held in two detention centres -- one on Nauru and another, since
shuttered, on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island.