Antigua and Barbuda Sets Conditions for Accepting U.S.-Transferred Migrants

Antigua and Barbuda says it could receive no more than 10 third-country nationals a year from the United States, including people classed as refugees, once Washington can confirm that proper security screening has been completed and that each person holds valid travel papers.

Prime Minister Gaston Browne said his government is open to working with the United States on migration issues, but not in a way that weakens Antigua and Barbuda's public safety or national security. Speaking on his weekly radio programme, Browne said, "One criminal element coming into our country can make a difference."

He said travel documentation is also a firm requirement. "We also said to them that these persons must have travel documents because what happens sometimes is some of these immigrants who they detain, as soon as they get to the United States, they tear up the travel documents and we can't have them come here as stateless individuals," Browne said.

According to the prime minister, Antigua and Barbuda has told U.S. representatives that any migration arrangement must be shaped around the country's own interests. "We have said to them that, look, they have their issues and we want to help, we want to be a cooperative state, but cannot, let's say, participate or agree to anything that is to our detriment," he said.

In January, the government said no legally binding deal had been reached with the United States for Antigua and Barbuda to take deportees or refugees. Officials said the matter on the table was a non-binding memorandum of understanding proposed by Washington, tied to a wider U.S. effort to share responsibility for refugees who were already in the United States.

The administration also said then that Antigua and Barbuda was one of more than 100 countries approached, including several Caribbean Community member states.

Browne said an earlier version of the proposal reportedly asked the twin-island state to receive up to 120 people, without firm commitments on support or adequate checks. "At one point I'm told that they had asked us to accept as many as 120 individuals and there were no guarantees, no guaranteed assistance, no guaranteed due diligence, and I said to them that that is totally unacceptable," he said.

Talks with the U.S. State Department have not been completed, Browne said, adding that his administration is still waiting for Washington to answer the concerns it raised. "That matter remains unresolved in the sense that we have not heard from the State Department as yet," he said.

The prime minister said Antigua and Barbuda is not looking for conflict with the United States and wants to preserve solid diplomatic ties. "We're not promoting any hostility with the United States. We want to maintain good relations with the U.S., but they have to understand that we have to defend our national interests. We're a small, powerless and very vulnerable country," Browne said.

The issue comes after St. Kitts and Nevis said last month that it had received its first group of U.S.-transferred third-country deportees through a bilateral arrangement with Washington. That government said three CARICOM nationals from Jamaica and Belize arrived under the programme, which involved people accused of immigration breaches.

Browne again made clear that Antigua and Barbuda would reject any arrangement that could place the country at risk. "We have to defend our national interests," he said.