(Image source: Reuters: Hollie Adams)
An immigration crackdown of undocumented migrants in US cities has captivated the world in recent weeks, sparking fears that a wave of deportees may be about to enter the Pacific. US immigration documents have marked hundreds of Pacific migrants for deportation, most of whom come from Fiji, Tonga and the Marshall Islands.
And now Palau, one of the smallest islands in the Pacific, is considering a deal to accept ‘third country nationals’ from the US who seek protection from returning to their home country.
QUT Centre for Justice member, Associate Professor Danielle Watson has been called upon for media commentary, noting that Palau would need to “establish its own law and administrative mechanisms to process asylum claims in line with international standards” while noting that Paula “lacks a comprehensive legal framework for refugee status determination” as well as resource constraints on the small island with “limited social services and public facilities.”
Danielle provided interviews with:
ABC Radio Pacific Beat – listen here, (11 July 2025)
ABC News – here – republished with MSN and NZ International News here
ABC Radio Pacific Beat – listen here (23 July 2025)
Danielle Watson is an Australian Research Council DECRA Fellow in the School of Justice. She is also an Adjunct Associate Professor at the University of the South Pacific and an Affiliate of the Resilient and Sustainable Islands Initiative (RESI). Her research focuses on Pacific regional security, border security, policing, police/community relations, policing culturally and linguistically diverse communities and plural regulatory systems in the Caribbean and Pacific. She conducts research on (in)security in Pacific Island countries, capacity building for security service providers, recruitment and training as well as many other areas specific to improving security governance in developing country contexts. Her research interests are multidisciplinary in scope as she also conducts research geared towards the advancement of tertiary teaching and learning.
Read more about Danielle’s research here.
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