Nauru

The group of 26 refugees included two Sri Lankan families, but the rest are single men - Afghan, Pakistani and Rohingyan - who all departed yesterday.

It is the fourth flight of refugees from Nauru since September last year, and the third in February, taking the total number who have been resettled from Nauru to 110.

Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition said if the US resettlement continued at this rate it will be more than a year before the refugees on Nauru are all resettled there.

The Russian diplomat visited Nauru earlier this month.

During the stay, Ambassador Logvinov presented his credentials.

This was followed by conversation with President Waqa that focused on topical issues and prospects of Russian-Nauruan cooperation.

Russia is represented in Nauru through its embassy in Canberra Australia. 

Refugee activist Ian Rintoul said almost all who flew out yesterday for Los Angeles are single Afghan, Pakistani or Rohingya men.

A Sri Lankan family of four and a Bangladeshi were also among the group.

This brings to 84 the number of refugees who've flown to the US since resettlement began in September.

Mr Rintoul said up to 100 refugees have not had their first interview with US officials who are expected to return to Nauru next week.

He said the big question was whether any of the acceptances will include Iranian or Somali refugees.

Almost all are single men and are Afghan, Pakistani or Rohingya.

In a statement, the Refugee Action Coalition says there is one Sri Lankan family (with four children) and one Bangladesh refugee.

“This will bring the total to 84 people who have flown from Nauru to the US since resettlement began last September,” says Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition.

“At least one more flight of refugees to the US is expected by the end of February.

Detained by Australia, the group of 22 comprised a Rohingyan man, his wife and 20 single Rohingyan, Afghan and Pakistani men.

The refugee advocate Ian Rintoul said one of the Rohingyan men has family in Australia but was told if he did not go to the US he would stay on Nauru for 20 years.

The advocate said he expected a total of about 130 refugees to leave Nauru for America this month.

About 130 refugees from Nauru and Papua New Guinea's Manus Island have so far been resettled in the US which agreed to take up to 1250 from Australian offshore detention.

The Russian news agency RIA said the deal was signed during the recent visit of South Ossetia's foreign minister to Nauru which marked its 50th anniversary of independence.

Nauru has the region's tightest visa policy and apart from several South Pacific countries, it only allows visa-free access to citizens from four countries - Israel, Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates and Russia.

In addition, it charges $US6000 as a non-refundable fee for visa applications if they are filed by journalists.

Nauru is hosting the summit in September and it had said it was planning to lift punitive restrictions on access for journalists that have been in place for nearly four years.

Nauru charges more than $US6,000 for a non-refundable visa application, yet it is not known how much money the policy has collected.

The effective ban was imposed after the Nauru government took exception to criticism from the international media over the treatment of Australia's asylum seekers on the island.

Indonesia was represented at this week's 50th anniversary of independence in Nauru and the Antara news agency quotes Nauru President Baron Waqa had said that his country supports "every step taken by the government of Indonesia for the prosperity of the people of Papua and West Papua."

Mr Waqa met with Indonesia cabinet minister, Wiranto, and told him he was confident Jakarta is sincere in developing Papua and West Papua.

President Baron Waqa made the announcement in his 50th anniversary address in the capital, Yaren Wednesday.

He said residual deposits in some areas are large enough to warrant feasibility studies and surveys to determine viability of the industry.

“Drillings are being undertaken to ascertain these deeper deposits and secondary mining hopefully will commence in 2018-2019 period, once all plans are in place.

President Konrote will join other invited international dignitaries at the celebrations today.

He left Fiji for Nauru yesterday and will return on Friday.