Government looking at settlement of Palestinian nationals in Dominica as a means of increasing the population

By-Carlisle Jno Baptiste

ROSEAU, DOMINICA, July 31, 2025-The Government of Dominica is considering the settlement of Palestinian nationals in Dominica as a means of increasing the population.

That disclosure was made by Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit in his contribution to the 2025/26 National Budget presentation. “We have the Palestinians, I believe that we will be hoping to engage the governments of Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to quite possibly allow their resettlement of a couple of hundred Palestinians in Dominica,” Skerrit stated.

“If we can get some funding from these governments that would be great and off course, we will engage the United States in that regard as well, because if we can get the infrastructures put in…remember you have some very talented people in these countries, top class doctors, engineers etc. who we believe can assist us in our efforts to grow the economy and fill the gaps where we have some skills deficiencies.”

“And so, we will be engaging the public on these issues and soliciting their feedback on these issues,” the Dominican leader stated.

According to Skerrit, the world now is “progressive,” and Dominica has to be “more open.”

The current population of Dominica is 65,843 as of Thursday, July 31, 2025, based on World-o-meter’s elaboration of the latest United Nations data.

Dominica’s 2025 population is estimated at 65,871 people at mid-year. Figures released have shown that a significant portion of the island’s population lives in urban areas, with around 72.5% residing in urban centers in early 2025.

Figures also show that in early 2025, the population was evenly split, with 50% male and 50% female.

He also spoke on the issue of a new immigration policy soon. “I believe that one of the things that we need to look at very soon is to articulate and look at a more progressive immigration policy, our country. Every law we inherited from the British, is more prevention and not facilitation and I believe that we have enough lands in Dominica for an increased population, so therefore I believe that in terms of visa regime, we need to look at eliminating all visas for entry into Dominica from all over the world to allow people to come in,” he stated.

“You can have an amount of stay for a few weeks or months, but this thing where people have to apply for a visa to come into Dominica needs to be removed,” Skerrit remarked.