SYDNEY, Australia — Australia signed an agreement with Cambodia on Friday to resettle refugees there, despite strong protests from human rights groups that believe Australia is breaking international laws.

The agreement would allow refugees to voluntarily move from one of Australia’s offshore processing centers on the tiny Pacific island of Nauru to Cambodia, where they would settle permanently.

The immigration minister of Australia, Scott Morrison, signed the agreement in Phnom Penh with Cambodia’s interior minister, Sar Kheng, who is also deputy prime minister.

“This is a voluntary arrangement,” Mr. Morrison said in an interview with the radio broadcaster Australian Broadcasting Corporation before leaving Australia. “No one is forcing anyone to go anywhere.”