Australia ends migrants housing deal with Papua New Guinea

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — Australia is ending a deal with Papua New Guinea to house asylum-seekers, leaving scores who have spent years on the South Pacific island nation the options of resettling in the United States or the tiny atoll of Nauru. Australia has been paying Papua New Guinea and Nauru since 2013 to house thousands of asylum-seekers who attempt to reach Australian shores by boat. Australia’s pledge that migrants who come by boat will never be allowed to stay has all but ended the people smuggling traffic from Southeast Asian ports. Australia and its nearest neighbor, Papua New Guinea, announced on Wednesday that the asylum-seeker deal will end on Dec. 31.