Pacific nation of Palau ponders taking asylum-seekers from US

Palau's President Surangel Whipps jnr is weighing a US request to host asylum seekers under President Donald Trump’s strict immigration policy. Photo / Getty Images

The United States is looking to send asylum-seekers to the sparsely populated volcanic isles of Palau, the small South Pacific nation said today.

Scattered about 800km east of the Philippines, tropical Palau has long been one of America’s closest allies in the Pacific.

Palau President Surangel Whipps jnr last week received a request from Washington to accept “third-country nationals seeking asylum in the US”, his office said in a statement.

Whipps’ office told AFP today that the proposal was still under consideration by the nation’s powerful Council of Chiefs, an advisory body of traditional leaders.

“A meeting was held last week. So far no decision has come out of that meeting,” a spokesman said.

US President Donald Trump campaigned on a promise to expel millions of undocumented migrants, saying the country had been “inundated” by unwanted arrivals.

He signed an executive order in January - titled “Protecting the American People Against Invasion” - that suspended admissions for countless refugees seeking haven in the US.

Key details of the proposed deal between Palau and the US were not immediately clear, such as how many asylum-seekers it would cover, or what Palau may get in return.

“Based on the most recent draft agreement, Palau would have full discretion to decide whether or not to accept any individuals, and all actions would be consistent with our constitution and laws,” the Palau president’s office said in a statement.

US Ambassador Joel Ehrendreich was present at a meeting of senior officials to discuss the request, according to photos published last week by the Palau president’s office.

The US has reportedly considered dispatching asylum-seekers to the likes of El Salvador, Libya, and Rwanda.

With some 20,000 people spread across hundreds of volcanic isles and coral atolls, Palau is by population one of the smallest countries in the world.

A tricky ask

The Pacific microstate could find it difficult to deny Washington’s request.

Palau gained independence in 1994 but allows the US military to use its territory under a longstanding “Compact of Free Association” agreement.

In return, the US gives Palau hundreds of millions of dollars in budgetary support and assumes responsibility for its national defence.

The US Embassy in Palau did not respond to an AFP request for comment.

Since coming to power in 2021, Whipps has overseen the expansion of US military interests in Palau.

This has included the ongoing construction of a long-range US radar outpost, a crucial early warning system as China ramps up military manoeuvres in the Taiwan Strait.

Palau is one of the few remaining countries to recognise Taiwan’s claim to statehood.

-Agence France-Presse