Second Island Nation Offers to Help Refugees
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The Pacific island nation of Kiribati has offered to join neighboring Nauru as a processing center for asylum seekers who were refused entry by Australia, Australian officials said.
Australia is refusing entry to refugees arriving by boat--many run by smugglers--at its islands between the mainland and Indonesia.
Last month, New Zealand offered to house and process the asylum applications of about 150 of 430 refugees plucked from a sinking ferry. Most are from Afghanistan.
Nauru agreed to take the remainder, and Australia is paying all costs. But with 300 more boat people stranded at the Cocos Islands and Ashmore Reef, Australia approached Kiribati.
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