Don’t send us home

Thirty-four Venezuelan nationals, detained at the Immigration Detention Centre in Aripo, who are to be deported soon, are begging to be allowed to stay in this country so they can get jobs and send much needed basic amenities to their loved ones who are suffering in their homeland.

However, National Security Minister Edmund Dillon said this will not happen and all 34 will be deported as they do not meet the criteria to be considered as refugees. On March 8, Dillon spoke to some of the Venezuelans during his visit to the detention centre to view refurbishment work done at the facility.

During that visit, the detainees from Venezuela were told that arrangements are being made via the Venezuelan Embassy to have that country’s government agree to a letter of acceptance to have them repatriated. The detained Venezuelans are unhappy with this plan saying they have nothing to return to in Venezuela except their families.

Venezuela is gripped by crippling inflation and economic collapse following the plummet in oil prices. They are also facing political instability and social unrest because of food shortages and lack of jobs.

Two of the detainees, who contacted Newsday, said they would prefer to seek asylum or refugee status in this country and feel they should be given an opportunity by the TT government on humanitarian grounds, to work in Trinidad and send food and basic amenities to loved ones back home.

“My family back home is starving, they have no food, no toilet paper no medication for my ailing father. Things have gone haywire and my relatives are living on boiled corn and provisions. They are very unhappy and they were hoping I would work in Trinidad to purchase items and send back to them. But now that I am a detainee I do not know how they are making out. I want to remain here and earn an honest living, I do not want to go back,” said one of the detainees who gave his name only as Juan Carlos.

The second detainee, who said his name was Miguel, complained of the hardships facing his family in Venezuela and pointed out that his wife has cancer and cannot get treatment. He was hoping to earn some money working in the construction sector in Trinidad to purchase medication on the black market to send back home.

“I do not know how my wife is doing, if she is alive or dead, I have no contact with relatives and I have sleepless nights at this detention centre. I need someone to listen to my plight,” Miguel said.

Contacted for comment, Dillon said he is continuing discussions with Venezuela’s Ambassador to TT Coromoto Godoy Calderon with a view to getting the Venezuelan government to issue a letter of acceptance for the detainees to be sent home. He said a Coast Guard vessel will take the detainees when the clearance is received.

Dillon said all the Venezuelan detainees will be sent home and there is no question of any of them being allowed to remain in this country. He said they do not qualify for asylum status. “The reality is they have to go back home despite the economic crisis in Venezuela,” Dillon said adding that the law must be adhered.

According to an immigration official, the Venezuelans are classified as “economic migrants,” many of whom had either entered the country illegally or destroyed their travel documents on arrival.