The US has started deporting migrants to a sparsely populated archipelago in the tropical Pacific, the island nation of Palau said yesterday.
US President Donald Trump has led a push to expel asylum seekers and undocumented migrants from the US, dispatching them to places like El Salvador and Uganda.
Palau, which by population is one of the smallest countries in the world, agreed in December last year to resettle up to 75 deportees in exchange for US$7.5 million.
Photo: Reuters
Palauan President Surangel Whipps Jr’s office said the first deportee had arrived in the country, a collection of coral atolls and volcanic isles scattered 800km east of the Philippines.
“We welcomed our first individual at the airport in late May, brought him to his temporary residence and helped him connect his phone and settle in,” the president’s office said in a statement.
The deportees are meant to settle down and find jobs in Palau, starting afresh in an unfamiliar place where they might have no family, friends or cultural connections.
However, the first deportee barely lasted two weeks after touching down at the international airport near the main settlement of Koror.
“After about two weeks he decided not to remain,” Whipps’ office said.
Basic details about the man, including why he was deported and where he went after Palau, remain a mystery.
Whipps has previously praised the resettlement deal as a win-win for Palau and the US.
“It’s about winning together,” he said at a signing ceremony in December last year. “We help the United States, we help these nationals that need a place to go that’s safe.”
“And hopefully they can get jobs and be happy in Palau,” he added.
The deal requires that all deportees have a clean criminal record and Palau retains full veto rights over who it chooses to accept. In exchange, the US pays Palau US$7.5 million to meet “public service and infrastructure needs.”
Critics have said the US was using nations like Palau as a dumping ground for unwanted migrants.
Palauan senators lost a last-ditch legal challenge to stop the policy earlier this year.
“Palau’s sovereignty is disrespected at this time,” Palauan Senate President Hokkons Baules said in February.
“We feel they’re dumping their problems in Palau,” he told Australian Broadcasting Corp.
That same month, the US Department of State barred Baules and his family from entering the US, accusing him of corruption linked to China.
Palau is one of Taiwan’s three diplomatic allies in Oceania.
Additional reporting by staff writer, with Reuters
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