Editing Republic of Palau-Cora (section)

===2027-2028===

As the initial shock faded, a few stranded people began to reach Palau-Cora, refugees, fishermen, and sailors set adrift by the collapse. Palau-Cora took in a few, but '''most were turned away'''. With food supplies still tight and every extra mouth a real risk to the group’s survival, the Republic could not afford to be generous, admission was rare and carefully watched. Those accepted were first held in quarantine on an offshore area before being allowed onto the island, both to guard against infection and to test whether they could be trusted. Among the handful admitted in these years were a few '''Bugis''' seafaring families, whose boat craft and reef knowledge proved worth the cost of feeding them. Through this cautious, often hard hearted policy the population crept up only slightly from the original eighteen into the low twenties which keeping Palau-Cora small enough to feed itself.