CANBERRA: The United States and Aus tralia are close to announcing a which the US would resettle hundreds of asylum seekers banished by Australia to Pacific island camps, a newspaper reported yesterday. The US had agreed to accept up to 1,800 refugees held for up to three years at Aus tralia's expense in camps on the impover ished island nations of Nauru and Papua New Guinea, The Australian newspa per reported Such an agreement struck with the Obama administration could be opposed by President-elect Donald Trump, who has called for a moratorium or tight restrictions on Muslim immigration. Most of the asylum seekers are Muslims from the Middle East Africa and Asia The agreement could empty the camps that have been condemned by human rights groups as a cruel abrogation of Aus tralia's responsibilities as a signatory to the United Nations Refugee Convention. Prime Minster Malcolm Turnbull declined to comment on negotiations with the United States