US eyes Palau as resettlement country for asylum seekers

By Pacific Island Times News Staff

The Trump administration is considering Palau as a resettlement country for asylum seekers currently residing in the U.S., according to The Guardian.

The report quoted from a draft agreement to relocate “third country nationals” from the U.S. who “may seek protection and against return to their home country,” or “equivalent temporary protection.”

The Guardian said the draft document does not include details as to the number of individuals who may be sent to Palau, nor what the Pacific nation would receive in return.

“Unlike the United States, Palau is not a signatory to the UN Refugee Convention, an international treaty which obliges countries to protect people fleeing persecution and which provides a framework on how asylum seekers and refugees should be treated in the country of refuge,” The Guardian reported.

“Noting this, the draft agreement states that Palau would instead act ‘in accordance with its constitution’ and its ‘underlying humanitarian principles.’”

Palau is a sovereign nation that is affiliated with the U.S. through the Compact of Free Association.

The U.S. government’s request for Palau to accept third-country nationals sought to facilitate President Donald Trump’s initiative to accelerate the removal of migrants from U.S. soil, which was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court last month.

The Guardian reported that a letter from Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr. states that the Pacific island nation would have “full discretion to decide whether or not to accept any individuals.”