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Ralph Gonsalves says he rejected a United States request while he was prime minister for St Vincent and the Grenadines to accept third-country nationals being deported from America.
Gonsalves said the proposal involved people who were neither American nor Vincentian, including deportees from other countries and people with refugee status.
He said he challenged the proposal on both legal and security grounds, arguing that people formally recognised as refugees could not simply be transferred elsewhere without regard for international obligations.
Gonsalves also argued that even accepting small numbers of foreign offenders could create disproportionate risks for a small Caribbean state. He said receiving five or 10 people annually could accumulate into a much larger security problem over several years.
He further complained that St Vincent and the Grenadines had experienced difficulty obtaining adequate background information even when its own nationals were deported from the United States, leaving authorities uncertain about individuals they were expected to reintegrate.
The United States has pursued third-country deportations under the Trump administration, sending migrants to countries other than their own. The policy has also faced legal challenges in US courts over the procedural protections afforded to deportees. Reuters
Gonsalves said he ultimately told US officials that accepting the proposed third-country deportees was not in his country’s interest.
