Australia PM says asylum seekers to be resettled in U.S. after Trump takes office

Australia's Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull speaks to the media after a tour of the Australian Maritime Border Command Centre in Canberra, November 13, 2016. AAP/Lukas Coch/via REUTERS

SYDNEY (Reuters) - Australia's prime minister said on Monday resettlement to the United States of many of the 1,200 asylum seekers held in detention camps on Papua New Guinea and the Pacific island of Nauru will begin after President-elect Donald Trump's inauguration in January.

Whether Trump honours the deal Australia reached with the outgoing Obama administration, and announced earlier this month, will provide an early test of Trump's anti-immigration stance.