Kambon: Help Africans, Haitians too

ACTIVIST Khafra Kambon said the Government's spirit of humanitarianism and respect for international law shown to Venezuelans migrants must also be shown to those from Africa and Haiti, who are treated most harshly in detention in TT.

“Unfortunately," he said, "observation over several years would show that countries of origin and ethnicity have been major factors in determining the proportion of arrests, the harshness of treatment and length of time that persons have been confined to the detention centre.

“Although formal migration studies have revealed that persons from the African continent make up a tiny minority of undocumented migrants in TT they are over-

represented at the IDC, consistently held for the longest periods of time, often subjected to the worst abuses, and several families with children have been destroyed.”

The Emancipation Support Committee (ESC) leader said his group wants the current spirit of humanitarianism, triggered by the Venezuelan crisis, to become institutionalised in well-articulated and publicised policies, with respect to other undocumented migrants in TT. “We say this against a background where under successive governments in TT, immigration authorities have been allowed to impose inhumane treatment not only on undocumented economic migrants but even on refugees fleeing wars, persons seeking to study at academic institutions in Trinidad and Tobago and others doing legitimate business in TT.”

Kambon, in a statement, gave details of his upset at how the authorities have treated certain migrants.

“Even legitimate, fee-paying students from African countries have suffered terror, including abusive termination of their status when they are about to enter their final year of study.”

He said next in line for harsh treatment were persons from Haiti, a member country of Caricom, whether they were here legally or as undocumented migrants.

“Many citizens would remember that it took a public campaign to protect a single young female from Haiti who landed in our country at the invitation of a national shortly after the devastating earthquake of 2010 in that country.”

Kambon said the third category of badly-treated migrants were citizens of Jamaica and Guyana.

“Shortly after his ascension to office our current Prime Minister made an urgent visit to Jamaica with part of his mission to save TT manufactures from a growing Jamaican boycott triggered by negative immigration encounters.”

Kambon called for better policies and practices.

“We look forward to practical implementation in retraining for immigration officers which would include cultural sensitivity training, reform of the management of Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) to ensure that the human rights and humanity of detainees are not abrogated.” He hoped such actions would avert instances of brutality seen at the IDC such as cases of the serious mental deterioration of inmates and even suicides and attempted suicides.

“The education of the public on these matters must form a vital part of the movement forward.”