UN accuses Australia of breaching refugee deal

A handout photo taken in late 2016, and obtained from the Refugee Action Coalition on June 14, 2017, shows Australia's regional processing centre on Manus Island in Papua New Guinea. - AFP/file

Sydney (AFP) - The UN accused Australia Monday of backtracking on a deal to relax its strong stance on asylum-seekers and resettle some refugees now held in overseas detention on home soil.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said it had agreed last November to help relocate the boatpeople to the United States on the basis that Canberra would accept some of them who have links to Australia.