With New Zealand's offer again declined, refugees on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island say they have no faith in the United States to resettle any more of Australia's offshore detainees.
the daily protest in the Manus Island detention centre 5-11-17. Photo: supplied
A deal was struck last year between Canberra and the administration of former president Barack Obama to take up to 1250 of the refugees, but so far only 54 from Manus and Nauru have been accepted.
On Sunday, the Australian prime minister Malcolm Turnbull said he would wait for the deal to play out before considering New Zealand's offer to resettle up to 150 of the refugees.
It was extended by his New Zealand counterpart Jacinda Ardern when the pair met in Sydney on Sunday.
A Manus Island refugee during the daily protest in the detention centre, 5-11-17. Photo: supplied
Despite pressure from the opposition Labor party - which also supports offshore detention - to take up the offer, Mr Turnbull declined it on the grounds that it could encourage people smugglers to ship more asylum seekers to Australia.
"We will not have our immigration programme, our sovereignty, our borders outsourced to people smugglers," he said.
Ms Ardern said New Zealand's offer had not been rejected outright.
"That is an offer that does remain on the table, so whilst it has not been taken up immediately, the prime minister thanked New Zealand for the offer, acknowledged it and it is something that still remains in place," she said.
On Manus Island, refugees reacted to the news by holding placards at their daily protest, thanking New Zealand for 'trying again.'
The Kurdish journalist and detainee Behrouz Boochani said the refugees doubted any more of them would follow the 25 Manus men already accepted by the US.
"The Australian government is not honest. They are not going to solve this problem. After a year they only sent 25 refugees to America and we don't know when they (US officials) will come here to do the process again," he said.
"So it is clear that they are playing with us under this fake deal."
Meanwhile, the PNG Supreme Court will hear an application from refugee lawyers today that could result in orders for life support services to be restored at the detention centre.
Since the centre's closure last Tuesday, food, water, power and medical services were cut from the centre, where about 600 refugees are refusing to leave.
Australia wants them to move to facilities in the island's main town, Lorengau, but the refugees fear more violent attacks by locals opposed to the relocation.