Government through the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade (MFAET) says it is yet to receive any advice about the three Solomon Islanders who are facing deportation from the United States (US).
And according to the US President Donald J. Trump deportations list released early this week, three Solomon Islanders are also included.
The latest move is part of Trump administration’s swift crackdown on immigration on those living in or entering the United States (US) illegally.
Since the release of the list a crackdown to look for illegal immigrants and deport them back to their countries of origin was carried out.
The Solomon Star on Thursday morning contacted MFAET whether they are aware of the three Solomon Islanders included in the list.
In response, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a statement issued on Thursday afternoon said, no formal advise was received from the US regime related to any deportees from Solomon Islands.
“The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and External Trade (MFAET) wishes to confirm that it has not received any formal notification from the United States Government on any deportees with Solomon Island nationality.”
The ministry added it also reached out to the US Embassy office in Honiara to verify the list.
“The Ministry has reached out to the United States Embassy in Honiara and the country’s diplomatic post in the United States to verify information circulating on social media.
“The Ministry will issue a follow up statement should it be necessary,” the statement concluded.
According to PNG’s Post Courier front page report on Thursday, three (3) Solomon Islanders, five (5) Papua New Guineans, 353 Fijians, 151 Tongans, 57 Samoans, 8 Palauans, and 3 I-Kiribati are among the Pacific Islanders set to be deported by the Trump Administration for breaching US Immigration laws.
Solomon Islands High Commissioner to Papua New Guinea (PNG) His Excellency William Soaki in response to the Post Courier article said, the US Embassy in Port Moresby, is yet to confirm the numbers of Pacific Islanders to be deported as quoted in the Post Courier front page article.
