But Australia appears to remain committed to supporting the Cambodian government to implement settlement arrangements and is still encouraging refugees on Nauru to explore Cambodia as a resettlement option.
She underscored Cambodia's few provisions regarding proper education, difficulty for refugees to find jobs, and an overall lack of mental health services as reasons why the nation may not be an ideal resettlement option.
Publicly the government maintains that Cambodia is a viable resettlement option for those on Nauru but it is conceded inside the department that the attempt to encourage people to go there has been a catastrophic and costly – more than $40m – failure, resettling only one person so far.
In what he said was in recognition of "particularly dangerous and challenging roles" in Helmand and "unique and exceptional service to the United Kingdom" some local staff and their immediate families will be offered a third option – resettlement in the UK.
Justice Breyer also noted that the government remained willing, in its words, once again to "discuss the matter with the government of Palau" and that it "continues to work to find other options for resettlement".
