President Benigno Aquino III said the Philippines can only provide “limited” assistance to refugees, following proposals from Australia.
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He said his country wanted to help Australia and was “seriously considering” an agreement, but would only allow refugees to transit from the Philippines to another country. During his term, he says, “contrary opinions are part and parcel, and protected in the democratic space that we have managed to really strengthen”.
“We feel we are not in a capacity at this point in time to afford permanent residency to these people”, he said.
The Philippine economy will keep growing in the coming years, despite the outcome of the presidential race next year, Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Ltd. said Wednesday.
“We would want to assist but there are limitations as to how far we can assist”, Aquino told reporters in Manila, saying his government was “challenged to meet the needs of its own people right now”.
‘I think Australia recognizes that we have a significantly bigger population than they do.
Aquino recounted how the government opened its doors to Vietnamese refugees in the 80’s. But it was swamped with hundreds of thousands who stayed for 15 years, including a few who became permanent residents, he said.
This came after a front-page report in Australia’s The Daily Telegraph said both countries’ foreign ministers had agreed to the Philippines accepting refugees for resettlement in exchange for Aus$150 million (US$109 million).
“Most recently, these issues were discussed at a meeting between Ms Bishop and her counterpart, Secretary Mr Albert del Rosario, in the margins of the UN General Assembly in New York”.
Australia has already struck a deal with Cambodia and given it millions of dollars but so far only four refugees held by Australia in Nauru have chosen to move there.
The Australian government has not disclosed details of the proposal and Aquino did not elaborate on Tuesday.
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Australian Greens spokeswoman Sarah Hanson-Young said the government should ditch the “absurd” policy of dumping people throughout the Pacific.
