The British, with the support of the French, exiled the Garifuna to Roatán, an island off the coast of Honduras. Garinagu were inhabitants of Yurumein / Saint Vincent and were therefore exiled and not deported from their homeland. Five thousand Garinagu were exiled to the Island Of Balliceaux in 1797. Because the island was too small and infertile to support their population, the Garifuna petitioned Spanish authorities to be allowed to settle on the mainland in the Spanish colonies. The Spanish employed them, and they spread along the Caribbean coast of the Central American colonies.