The United States would send "third country nationals" to the tiny Pacific Island nation of Palau under a proposed new deal, as the Trump administration looks for more countries to accept people it sends offshore.
Palau's government is considering a draft agreement, seen by the ABC, that would make it a destination for people seeking protection in the US against return to their home countries.
But observers say it remains unclear whether the deal is aimed at undocumented migrants or other groups including asylum seekers.
Palau President Surangel Whipps Jr is yet to finalise the arrangement and is consulting the island nation's Council of Chiefs, telling it in a letter that his country would be able to decide whether or not to accept any "third country nationals".
"All actions would be consistent with our constitution and laws," Mr Whipps's letter to the council, written on Wednesday last week, said.
"The United States strongly supports this proposal and has asked us to consider it."
It is unclear what Palau, one of the world's smallest nations with a population of 18,000, would receive in return.
"The first request is, Palau, would you consider the request," Mr Whipps said at a press conference.
"And if we possibly consider, then further discussions will take place on how it will [come about]."
The ABC approached the Palau government for further comment but received no response.
In response to questions from the ABC about the proposal, the US embassy in Palau said it did not discuss the details of diplomatic communications with other governments.
Palau, about 2,200 kilometres north of Australia, is one of three Pacific Island nations that have "Compact of Free Association" (COFA) agreements with the US, providing them billions of dollars in financial support in exchange for US military access to their territories.
While the draft new agreement on requests for protection says the US would follow its international obligations under the Refugee Convention, it states Palau is not a signatory to the document.
Instead, the draft deal says Palau "affirms its respect for the [convention's] underlying humanitarian principles" and would act according to its constitution "which expressly prohibits 'torture, cruel, inhumane or degrading treatment or punishment'."
"Both parties shall take into account, consistent with their respective legal frameworks, requests by third country nationals for asylum, refugee protection, or equivalent temporary protection," it says.
But observers say the official status of the people to be moved to Palau remains unclear.
"Are they illegal migrants? Are we talking about deportees, are we talking about asylum seekers who are in the process of having their claims processed by the US government?" said Jose Sousa-Santos, convenor of the Pacific Regional Security Hub at the University of Canterbury in New Zealand
" It's quite a broad term, people seeking protection in the United States, and that could be illegal migrants and it could be asylum seekers."
US President Donald Trump, who campaigned for re-election on deporting millions of undocumented migrants, has taken a number of actions to speed up deportations since returning to the White House in January.
The US Supreme Court last month also cleared the way for the Trump administration to resume deporting migrants to countries other than their own — a high-profile measure the administration has adopted to deter undocumented migrants.
The Trump administration has deported migrants to South Sudan and the African nation of Eswatini, and has said it is seeking more deals with other countries on the continent to take deportees from the US — an issue West African leaders said was discussed when they met with Mr Trump earlier this month.
'Hard to say no'
Observers said the proposed deal with Palau could strain the small Pacific nation and would require law reform.
Danielle Watson, an associate professor at the Queensland University of Technology's School of Justice, said Palau would need to establish its own laws and administrative mechanisms to process asylum claims in line with international standards.
"Palau lacks a comprehensive legal framework for refugee status determination, which could create implementation challenges as well as legal ambiguities," she said.
Besides the treatment of refugees, Dr Watson was also concerned about the potential strain on Palau's resources.
The draft agreement stated that its implementation would be subject to the availability of funds and technical capacity of each country, but did not commit either to funding.
"Without guaranteed US support, Palau could face significant resource constraints and absorbing asylum seekers could strain Palau's limited social services and public facilities," Dr Watson said.
She said the draft agreement postponed discussion of operational details, but without these it was hard to assess how Palau would "safeguard" its own interests under the deal.
Mr Sousa-Santos said Palau's COFA deal with the US also limited its choices.
"Palau isn't really in a position to say no," he said.
"The undue control [the US] has over its budget … does put Palau and other COFA states such as the Federated States of Micronesia and the Marshall Islands in a hard place to say no or to try to get a better deal whilst negotiating with the US."
And observers say the US may come to demand more of Palau, after striking the agreement.
" The thing that we have seen with the Trump administration up until now is that nothing is set in stone … so whatever agreement is agreed to by Palau and its Council of Chiefs and the United States is likely to change as the Trump administration sees fit, and that is troubling," Mr Sousa-Santos said.
Not the first request
Leilani Reklai, publisher of Palau's Island Times newspaper, said she was "shocked" by the US's proposal, and that it was reminiscent of the 2009 agreement that saw nine Chinese Uyghur asylum seekers detained in Guantanamo Bay transferred to Palau.
Ms Reklai said the asylum seekers were supposed to be held in Palau for a short time for processing but it took about five to six years by the time the last detainee was released.
"That experience was not very positive so there's a lot of [public] resistance to the idea, not knowing the details."
Ms Reklai also said Palau would study Australia's offshore processing facilities in Nauru and Papua New Guinea to see what lessons could be learnt from those arrangements.
