CANBERRA, Australia (AP) — A refugee advocate says the first 52 refugees to be accepted for resettlement in the United States under a contentious agreement with Australia have left Pacific island camps where they have languished for years.

Refugee Action Coalition spokesman Ian Rintoul said on Wednesday the first 25 refugees from a male-only camp on Papua New Guinea's Manus Island had flown out of the national capital Port Moresby on Tuesday for the United States via the Philippines and Qatar.

Rintoul says another 27 refugees flew to Port Moresby on Wednesday from a camp in Nauru.

He says their journey will end in Los Angeles via the Philippines, Qatar and Chicago.

U.S. government officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment and Australian officials declined to comment.