The Abbott government wants to send some asylum seekers from Australian to Cambodia at a time the country's strongman Prime Minister Hun Sen is overseeing a brutal crackdown on dissent in one south-east Asia's poorest nations.
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Facing growing opposition after decades of authoritarian rule, Mr Hun Sen last month authorised a violent crackdown on anti-government protesters and striking garment workers that left five people dead and dozens injured.
On Saturday, Foreign Minister Julie Bishop proposed that Australia initially send a small group of asylum seekers to live in Cambodia.
Before the visit, Human Rights Watch urged Ms Bishop to put rights abuses at the top of her agenda in meetings with Cambodian leaders.
If an agreement is reached with Australia, asylum seekers would arrive in a country that has no social welfare and where 20 per cent of the population live in poverty and 40 per cent of children under five are malnourished, according to the World Bank. The minimum wage is $US80 ($89) a month.
Cambodia is one of two south-east Asian nations to have signed the 1951 Refugee Convention. Australia is one of its largest aid donors, giving more than $329 million over the past four years.
During her two-day visit Ms Bishop gave no details publicly about Australia's request, referring only to talks on the Bali Process, a multi-country gathering that deals with asylum seeker issues.
But her Cambodian counterpart Hor Namhong told reporters his country would ''very seriously'' consider the request. ''You know there are nowadays thousands of refugees seeking asylum in Australia,'' he said.
Mr Hun Sen agreed to set up a committee to examine Ms Bishop's request for a number of ''legal asylum seekers'' from Australia, Eang Sophallet, a spokesman for the Prime Minister, told reporters.
