Palau has welcomed a first migrant deported from the United States, while an agreement provides for the reception of up to 75 exiles, the authorities of this Pacific island country announced on Wednesday.
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“We welcomed our first individual at the airport at the end of May, drove him to his temporary residence and helped him connect his phone and get settled,” the Palau president’s office said in a statement to AFP.
“After approximately two weeks, he decided not to stay,” the office said.
The reason for his expulsion and his destination have not been communicated.
A spokeswoman for the International Organization for Migration (IOM) said the man had been approached by the United Nations body but had refused its offer of assistance.
Under President Donald Trump, the United States has stepped up efforts to deport undocumented people and asylum seekers, offering to send them to countries like Uganda, El Salvador and Rwanda.
Under a memorandum of understanding signed in December, Palau will allow up to 75 third-country nationals from the United States to live and work in the sparsely populated territory.
In return, the United States will grant $7.5 million to Palau to finance public services and infrastructure.
People deported from the United States must have a clean criminal record, and Palau has veto power over which migrants it accepts.
The archipelago, which has some 20,000 inhabitants spread across hundreds of islands, is located about 800 kilometers east of the Philippines.
US military installations have expanded in Palau since Surangel Whipps came to power in 2020, amid intensifying China’s military activities in the Taiwan Strait.
The state of Palau gained independence in 1994, but the country allows the U.S. military to use its territory under a former “free association” agreement.
In return, the United States pays it hundreds of millions of dollars in budgetary support and is responsible for its national defense.
