CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — The Australian foreign minister has rejected the United Nations refugee agency's allegation that her government reneged on a deal to resettle some refugees who attempted to reach Australia by boat.

The UNHCR said on Monday it had agreed to facilitate a deal in which the United States would take up to 1,250 refugees from camps on the Pacific island nations of Papua New Guinea and Nauru "on the clear understanding that vulnerable refugees with close family ties in Australia would ultimately be allowed to settle there."

But Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said on Tuesday her government had never wavered from its policy that no refugee who attempts to reach Australia by boat will ever be allowed to stay.