Helper at Oval: 'A citizen for citizens'

ONE TT volunteer providing food and water for Venezuelans waiting to be registered at the Queen's Park Oval in Port of Spain is calling himself "a citizen for citizens."

The man, who preferred not to be named, said he usually meets with a group of friends in Cocorite every other Sunday to pray, fellowship and feed the homeless, but after driving past the Oval and seeing the number of Venezuelans waiting for hours in the sun, they decided they had to do something to help.

The group has been distributing sandwiches and bottles of water to the migrants for the past two days.

"As a Trinbagonian, before that I'm a human. It's like me somewhere else, if somebody saw me it's about being human," he said.

He says TT citizens should be more understanding towards the situation, reminding them of the words to their national anthem.

"Every creed and race finds an equal place. It's definitive, it's accurate. It never said, 'If you from a certain race you might find an equal place.'"

While registration ends on Friday, he says he thinks there should be an extension. Many other citizens and Venezuelans have also been pleading for this, as hundreds of migrants are still unregistered, but Minister of National Security Stuart Young said it will not happen.

The volunteer said, "There's so much mixed feelings about what's going on here.

"But let's think about it. All through history, migration has been a part of why the world has been populated and diversified and it's just something that happens. We have to understand that inevitability is what it is.

"We are afraid of change, but guess what's consistent? Change."