Need for urgent govt refugee policy

THE EDITOR: The continuous flight of Venezuelan refugees to TT and now the plight of 78 imprisoned Cubans seeking refugee status urgently demands an official refugee policy and appropriate humanitarian measures from the Rowley regime.

Venezuelans who are fleeing hardship and brutality are arriving in droves on a daily basis, and to date the influx could well number more than 100,000, according to a UK newspaper report.

The PNM Government has treated the matter with typical indifference and callousness even though TT is a signatory to the United Nations Refugee Convention of 2000. Indeed, in 2016’s historic New York Declaration for Refugees and Migrants, all 193 member states of the UN agreed that protecting those who are forced to flee and supporting the countries that shelter them are shared international responsibilities that must be borne more equitably and predictably.

The Keith Rowley regime has already been scolded by the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNCHR) over the deportation of 82 Venezuelans last April. The UNCHR called the measure “a breach of international law.”

TT has also repeatedly received negative international media coverage for treating the Venezuelans “worse than dogs.” Still, there is no official asylum system to treat with the overwhelming number of arrivals.

These immigrants have generally had to hide from the authorities and from public attention and, as a result, are often exploited, ill-treated and abused, sexually and otherwise. For obvious reasons, they do not lodge reports or complaints with the police.

The matter is critical and calls for decisive and effective national leadership, which the Rowley regime has been delinquent in providing, in any sphere of governance, in its three years in office.

The issue is equally important because of TT’s small geographical size and its limited resources and, if not addressed, will have a damaging effect on the local population.

While refugees continue to flow through the porous southern borders, there have been no measures to have them properly processed in keeping with accepted international procedures.

The recognised processing system includes the establishment of official registration locations, where a declaration of intent is provided. Through that means, all arriving people are properly accounted for.

Immigration officials then undertake interviews and issue appropriate documentation. Each applicant is individually processed based on merit, and, if approved, given an appropriate permit to be able to legitimately remain in the country. At that point, proper social integration measures are instituted.

The essential current focus should be to establish an official system for processing the refugees, in keeping with approved UN practice.

It is important that TT has a proper account of the migrants and that they, in turn, be suitably informed if they would be permitted to remain in the country and would be provided with relevant documentation.

The fact that thousands of desperate refugees have, for months, been able to easily slip into in our country without the involvement of the immigration system is yet another testimony of the reckless and vacuous national leadership that currently exists.

I call on the authorities to work with the UNCHR in developing a responsible and proper response that balances the plight of the immigrant arrivals with TT’s limited resources.

The continued indifference and inattention of the Rowley regime is highly unsatisfactory, especially since there is no foreseeable end to the plight of the Venezuelan people.

The Government’s sustained negligence and ineptitude on this crucial issue is harmful and potentially dangerous to both the national interest and to the thousands of migrants who seek refuge in TT.

VASANT V BHARATH via e-mail