Behrouz Boochani, an Iranian refugee and journalist on Manus Island, had Donald Trump pegged. As confusion reigned on Thursday morning about Australia's refugee deal with the US, he tweeted: "I don't know why Aus gov insists on refugee deal with America. Trump will humiliate you, you will see."
A few hours later the US President did just that, tweeting that the deal he had supposedly agreed to honour was "dumb", and deriding those on Manus Island and Nauru as "illegal immigrants".
More World News Videos
- Video duration
- 01:46
Turnbull Trumped by phone-y diplomacy
Turnbull Trumped by phone-y diplomacy
As embarrassing details of Malcolm Turnbull's first phone call with Donald Trump are revealed, the refugee agreement the President blasted as "the worst deal ever" hangs in the balance. Courtesy Seven News Melbourne.
Up Next
Trump's phone call to 'Trunbull'
- Video duration
- 01:07
- Video duration
- 01:07
Trump's phone call to 'Trunbull'
Trump's phone call to 'Trunbull'
White House Press Secretary, Sean Spicer, says President Trump had a 'very cordial' conversation with the prime minister of Australia. But he gets one important detail wrong...
Up Next
Trump v Turnbull: Clarity at last
- Video duration
- 01:56
- Video duration
- 01:56
Trump v Turnbull: Clarity at last
Trump v Turnbull: Clarity at last
Donald Trump says he doesn't like the refugee deal but will honour it as Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull explains how it'll happen. Courtesy ABC News 24, 2SM.
Up Next
Holocaust survivor: Must stand with immigrants
- Video duration
- 01:53
- Video duration
- 01:53
Holocaust survivor: Must stand with ...
Holocaust survivor: Must stand with immigrants
Survivors of the Holocaust spoke out against President Trump's executive order on immigration at a news conference in Skokie, Illinois.
Up Next
Chaos engulfs Fillon's French presidential bid
- Video duration
- 01:07
- Video duration
- 01:07
Chaos engulfs Fillon's French ...
Chaos engulfs Fillon's French presidential bid
Francois Fillon under increasing pressure Thursday to bow out of France's presidential race. A probe into whether he paid his wife a substantial salary for work she didn't do has now spread to two of his children.
Up Next
Meet Prime Minister Trumble
- Video duration
- 01:58
- Video duration
- 01:58
Meet Prime Minister Trumble
Meet Prime Minister Trumble
Listen as White House press secretary Sean Spicer mispronounces Malcolm Turnbull's name, leaving it to a colleague to get it right.
Up Next
Reporter kicked out of Le Pen event
- Video duration
- 01:05
- Video duration
- 01:05
Reporter kicked out of Le Pen event
Reporter kicked out of Le Pen event
A video showing a reporter being grabbed by security men and hustled away after asking a question of National Front leader and presidential candidate Marine Le Pen, is circulating on the Internet amid confusion over the circumstances of the incident.
Up Next
Super Bowl ads getting too expensive
- Video duration
- 01:22
- Video duration
- 01:22
Super Bowl ads getting too expensive
Super Bowl ads getting too expensive
Some companies don't mind shelling out $5 million for a thirty second spot during the Super Bowl, but others find cheaper ways to advertise.
Turnbull Trumped by phone-y diplomacy
As embarrassing details of Malcolm Turnbull's first phone call with Donald Trump are revealed, the refugee agreement the President blasted as "the worst deal ever" hangs in the balance. Courtesy Seven News Melbourne.
For the refugees stuck in Australia's offshore processing centres, the relationship between Mr Trump and Malcolm Turnbull is about much more than diplomatic protocol or political wrangling. It's about their future, their very lives.
"It feels like someone is stabbing a knife in our chest when we hear different stories every day," says Imran Mohammed, a Rohingya refugee on Manus. "We have no expectation, as well as no dream."
Mr Mohammed is among the 871 men in Papua New Guinea awaiting resettlement. He had hoped the arrangement struck with the US would put an end to his three years in detention.
That prospect is fading as the deal made with Barack Obama appears to unravel under the Trump administration. Reports that a furious President Trump berated Mr Turnbull over "the worst deal ever", and bluntly told him "I don't want these people", have plunged the already-desperate group of asylum seekers into even deeper despair.
"It makes me feel we are not welcomed into his country," Mr Mohammed said on Thursday. "It is excruciatingly hard to fight against the words like refugees subject to 'extreme vetting'. There is no glimpse of hope left in this environment. Many of us [have] lost faith in life and don't want to live in this world."
There are growing calls from refugee advocates in Australia to abandon the US arrangement entirely. The Greens called on Mr Turnbull to scrap the deal, saying "only a fool would take Trump at his word", while Daniel Webb at the Human Rights Law Centre said "enough is enough" and that "it's not good enough to just sit back and hope for the best from Donald Trump".
There have been conflicting messages from the White House about whether Mr Trump will proceed with the arrangement, culminating in President's tweet about 3pm Thursday (Australian time) announcing he would "study" what he called the "dumb deal" struck by Mr Obama.
For the 2000 men, women and children stuck in the middle of this extraordinary stoush between foreign leaders, each twist in the tale is a blow to their fragile sense of hope. Other than the US, there are no options on the table - the Turnbull government will not allow them to come to Australia, and although it says it is discussing resettlement deals with other countries, no offers have yet emerged.
"People are very worried. We still have a lot of questions about the deal, and most people don't trust the answers they're getting," Mr Boochani said on Thursday.
"People are following the news closely but day by day they are getting more worried. Most people would be really happy to go to America but each day we hear different news."
Mr Boochani said the Washington Post's explosive account of the Trump/Turnbull phone call had been doing the rounds on Manus Island on Thursday. He had always been sceptical of the deal and is now finding his cynicism was well-founded.
"Really, it's hard to trust in Trump or Turnbull," Mr Boochani told Fairfax Media. "Trump has an ideological problem with the deal and if he accepts the refugees it means he's not Trump. He will hurt himself by accepting them.
"I don't think the deal will happen, or if it happens the process will take a long time and will only be for a few people. It looks really illogical to insist on a deal with Donald Trump who is so against refugees.
"It's clear that their main policy for these islands is to waste time and keep people in such a hard situation for years . . . to pressure people to go back to their source countries. This is not only my thinking, it's my experience in this island."
At least one US official has visited Manus Island and Nauru to get the ball rolling, along with departmental staff from Australia. Refugees have been told the process could take six to 12 months, and interviews will be conducted by the US's Resettlement Support Centre East Asia.
Mr Mohammed has not given up, but is growing increasingly bleak about his prospects.
"We hope and pray that the President Donald Trump will honour the deal and we will be given an opportunity to work towards supporting his country and love its people deeply," he wrote to Fairfax Media this week.
"We have always been concerned about the deal and we still are. We have been told too many things, yet we are still stuck behind the same fence without any clear view of our future.
"We can't smile nowadays and can't find any joy in our lives. Although we are alive, we are dead inside."