According to the latest update from Operation Sovereign Borders, the combined number of refugees on Nauru and Manus Island is 1687.
http://newsroom.border.gov.au/channels/Operation-Sovereign-Borders/releases/operation-sovereign-borders-monthly-update-january-3
The White House spokesperson was reported as saying the agreement between Australia and the US is for 1250 refugees.
The number of recognised refugees on Nauru grows each day as more determinations are handed down. There are also over 300 asylum seekers from Nauru and Manus presently in Australia who are yet to receive their refugee determination.
Given the current figures, there is no resettlement place for over 400 refugees.
“It is increasingly clear that the US deal is a fiction,” said Ian Rintoul, spokesperson for the Refugee Action Coalition. “The Prime Minister needs to come clean on the exact details of the deal. So far we have been fed half-truths. The US deal is a mirage that is going to mean that people seeking asylum and refugees are going to be in limbo for many more months and probably more than a year, if the deal goes ahead at all.”
“Governments ministers have stated that ‘extreme vetting’ is continuing on Nauru. But there have only been preliminary interviews. Nobody on Nauru has had a security interview. The process has stalled.”
The Refugee Action Coalition is one of the 70 organisations that signed the Open Letter calling on Prime Minister Turnbull and Opposition leader Bill Shorten to immediately evacuate Nauru and Manus Island and bring all the people safely to Australia.
For more information call Ian Rintoul 0417 275 713