Palau Congress holds firm on stance against accepting asylum seekers

By Bernadette Carreon

Palau's Senate stood pat on its position to balk at Washington’s proposal to resettle asylum seekers in the Pacific island nation, rejecting President Surangel Whipps Jr.’s appeal for reconsideration.

Hokkons Baules

"We advise against proceeding further on this matter only because of the practical issues that the introduction of the refugees would raise in our society," Senate President Hokkons Baules writes, reiterating the congressional recommendation in July.

"The Senate position remains unchanged," Baules said in response to Whipps’ Oct. 3 letter.

The U.S. government first proposed sending deportees to Palau in July, but the bicameral legislature and the Council of Chiefs raised objections, warning of its potential impact on the country’s fragile resources and uncertain economy.

In his letter to Baules, Whipps Jr. said he was forming a working group to consider the U.S. deportation proposal and “build a consensus on what Palau is comfortable with and define terms that would be in the country's interest.”

With a population of 17,600, Palau is tied to the U.S. through the Compact of Free Association.

Whipps pointed out that a unanimous position would enable Palau to give a response that “is united, deliberate and grounded in the best interest of our people.”

Baules declined Whipps’ invitation for the Senate to send representatives to the working group. “We trust you will respect our decision,” the Senate leader told Whipps.

Whipps has not detailed what new facts might justify granting the Trump administration’s resettlement request, but conceded in his letter that the initial proposal was inadequate.

He added that the U.S. "has acknowledged them and expressed a willingness to work with us to address our priorities."

The original proposal would see the U.S. send an unspecified number of asylum seekers whose applications for humanitarian residency had been rejected by U.S. authorities.

The proposal offered no corresponding funds for Palau to house and care for the deportees, and no avenue to facilitate their repatriation to their home countries.

In a July 21 letter, Baules and House Speaker Gibson Kanai stated that while Palau considers the U.S. its closest ally, they can’t support the deportee-resettlement plans.

“Please convey to the United States that although we cannot accept this specific proposal, we are fully committed to our lasting partnership,” they wrote.

Whipps met Deputy Secretary of State Christopher Landau in Papua New Guinea in September and was asked if the U.S. could continue dialogue with Palau on the asylum seekers.

Whipps said he agreed to form a working group in Palau to discuss the matter.

The U.S. proposal came amid the Trump administration's relentless immigration clampdown, which entails mass deportation of undocumented migrants and migrants with criminal records, including to third countries such as El Salvador, South Sudan and Eswatini.

The administration has also worked to curtail the admission and processing of refugees and asylum seekers, proposing earlier this month to slash admissions for people seeking protection from around the world, while prioritizing the resettlement of white South Africans in the U.S.

This proposal is not the first time Palau has been proposed as a third-country destination for foreigners not wanted by the U.S. In 2009, the U.S. sent six members of China’s Uighur minority who had been released from detention in Guantanamo Bay to live in the country.

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