U.S. officials interviewing refugees held in an Australian-run offshore detention center left the facility abruptly, three detainees said Saturday, throwing further doubt over a plan to resettle many of the detainees in America.
U.S. officials halted screening interviews and departed the Pacific island of Nauru on Friday, two weeks short of their scheduled timetable and a day after Washington said the United States had reached its annual refugee intake cap.
"U.S. (officials) were scheduled to be on Nauru until July 26 but they left on Friday," one refugee said, requesting anonymity as he did not want to jeopardize his application for U.S. resettlement.