柬埔寨从澳大利亚接受首批难民

Cambodia has received its first group of asylum seekers from Australia, as part of a refugee resettlement deal that has been widely criticized by human rights groups.

Officials at the Phnom Penh international airport confirmed the refugees arrived Thursday and were handed over to the International Organization for Migration, which is helping resettle them.

In a statement, IOM said it will "begin to provide essential support, including language training, cultural and social orientation, education services, health services, and employment services" for the asylum seekers.

"They will be encouraged and supported to integrate into the Cambodian community and become self-reliant as quickly as possible," said the statement.

Cambodia last year reached a $32 million agreement to resettle refugees who were rejected by Australia and are now being held in a detention center in the Pacific island nation of Nauru.

Critics say the deal amounts to Australia, one of the world's biggest economies, neglecting its international responsibilities and dumping refugees off on Cambodia, one of the world's poorest countries.