Rubio says US is asking countries to ‘voluntarily’ accept displaced Palestinians

Middle East Eye
May 20, 2025  

The US has reached out to countries about accepting “voluntary” relocations of Palestinians, US Secretary of State Marco Rubio said on Tuesday.

“There’s no deportation,” Rubio said.

“What we have talked to some nations about is, if someone voluntarily and willingly says, I want to go somewhere else for some period of time because I’m sick, because my children need to go to school, or what have you, are there countries in the region willing to accept them for some period of time?” Rubio said.

Democratic Senator Jeff Merkely replied, if “there is no clean water, there is no food, and bombing is all around you, is that really a voluntary decision?”

Human Rights experts, Arab governments, and aid workers have refutted the premise that this process would be voluntary. Palestinians have been forcibly displaced by Israel’s war on Gaza.

We remind our readers that publication of articles on our site does not mean that we agree with what is written. Our policy is to publish anything which we consider of interest, so as to assist our readers  in forming their opinions. Sometimes we even publish articles with which we totally disagree, since we believe it is important for our readers to be informed on as wide a spectrum of views as possible.