Australia's Immigration Minister Scott Morrison during an interview with Reuters in Phnom Penh September 26, 2014. REUTERS/Samrang Pring
SYDNEY/JAKARTA (Reuters) - Australia's conservative government on Wednesday defended its decision to stop asylum seekers passing through Indonesia from settling in Australia, a move that could leave Indonesia with thousands of refugees from the Middle East.
The government announced late on Tuesday that asylum seekers who registered with the U.N. High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) in Indonesia after July 1 would no longer be eligible for resettlement in Australia.
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