AG: Aruba, Curaçao to replicate TT V'zuelan registration model

ATTORNEY General Faris Al-Rawi said Aruba and Curaçao will be following TT's model for the registration of Venezuelans.

He was speaking on Thursday at the post-Cabinet media conference, Diplomatic Centre, Port of Spain.

Last week he and National Security Minister Stuart Young had meetings with the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) and the International Red Cross, and the US Secretary of State on the issue.

"All of them have said to TT 'job well done' on treating with economic migration and treating with the situation of the Venezuelan crisis. They have all said 'job well done.'"

He said the job is not completed but the data from the registration exercise has to be filtered.

"At that point you can assess what legislatively you need to do or what structurally you need to do. But the only people in TT who are telling us the job has not been done correctly is the UNC. We do not associate ourselves with their sentiments. They believe if TT is in trouble they prosper."

From May 31-June 14 a total of 16,523 Venezuelans were registered, including about 3,000 children, and from yesterday about 13,000 were scheduled to begin receiving registration cards which allow them to live and work in TT for a year.

Al-Rawi said international representatives have described TT as a model jurisdiction "for doing it right." He added Aruba and Curaçao are looking at the Venezuelan registration and are being facilitated by the UNHCR.

"So whilst some people in the country opposed to the Government spread negative talk and constantly move the milestones the rest of the international world is now saying to us 'you TT stand as a model jurisdiction in this arena and we are looking to replicate what you have done.'"