By Staff Writer
ROSEAU, Dominica, Mar 24, CMC – The Dominica government Wednesday said it has signed an agreement with the United States to facilitate third-country refugees to be sent to Dominica in scenarios where Washington cannot return these individuals to their state of birth or origin.
“The agreement was formally signed on March 18th, 2026, by Dominica’s ambassador to the United States of America,” Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit told a news conference, adding, “importantly, this arrangement is non-binding, and Dominica retains full discretion at all times.
“This means we have the authority to accept or reject any individual. We also maintain the right to refuse entry to persons with a criminal history, and we will have advanced access…to relevant medical and security information before any decision is made,” Skerrit told reporters.
Earlier this month, Skerrit had informed that the draft agreement proposed by the United States calls for seven illegal migrants to be sent to Dominica every four months, noting that in a year the island will welcome “no more than 28 persons”.
He told the news conference on Wednesday that on the operational side, “our technical team continues to do the necessary preparatory work” and that a meeting was held with the International Organization of Migration (IOM) on March 10 to discuss the support in executing the arrangement.
“The framework for the standing operating procedures has been completed, and the team met on Tuesday, that is yesterday, to finalise the procedures for our ports of entry.”
He said that at this time, Dominica has not received any information regarding the timing of the first transfer or the identities of any individuals.
“So, in other words, no requests have been made of the government of Dominica so far to accept anyone. We’ll continue to keep the public informed as more details become available, and I want to assure the Dominican people that the process will be managed carefully, responsibly, and in our national interest,” he added.
Dominica is among several Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries that have agreed to accept refugees from third countries deported by the Donald Trump administration.
Earlier this year, Skerrit said that given the importance of bilateral relationships between the United States and Dominica, he, as prime minister and head of government, believes “it is important to find key points of agreement and compromise between our countries”.
“This engagement is based on our responsibility to safeguard the well-being of our people, particularly their access to lawful travel, education, employment, and family connections, while strengthening cooperation between our governments. I believe this will further deepen our longstanding relationship and signal clearly that Dominica remains a willing and reliable partner of the United States in the region,” Skerrit said.
But he also said that he had long been advocating that Dominica needed more people for its socio-economic development before the discussions with the United States came about.
CMC/cj/ir/2026