Radio New Zealand - Te Reo Irirangi o Aotearoa

Nauru signs UN refugee convention

Posted at 23:35 on 17 June, 2011 UTC

Nauru’s President Marcus Stephen has today signed the United Nations convention on refugees.

The signing of the 1951 Convention relating to the Status of Refugees and its 1967 Protocol follows a visit to the island by the Australian Opposition leader Tony Abbott for talks on re-opening a mothballed detention centre for asylum seekers.

Mr Stephen has said that if a request came to re-open the camp his government would consider it, if not, the nation will move on.

Mr Abbott wants to reopen the centre there as an alternative to Canberra’s controversial and yet-to-be-finalised Malaysian refugee swap deal.

Australia’s also been in talks with Papua New Guinea to explore processing asylum seekers there.

Nauru’s also recently signed the Convention on the Elimination of all Forms of Discrimination against Women or CEDAW.