Ghanaian doing well after release from IDC

The Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) in Aripo, East Trinidad. FILE PHOTO
The Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) in Aripo, East Trinidad. FILE PHOTO

GHANAIAN Samuel Asante, who was released from the Immigration Detention Centre (IDC) on Friday, is said to be doing well.

Newsday spoke to a close friend of Asante’s family, who said they were shocked when they heard on Friday that he was to be released.

Asante was not at home when Newsday called, but the family friend said they were happy and relieved that he is no longer at the IDC.

“He is doing ok,” the family friend said.

On Friday, National Security Minister Stuart Young ordered Asante’s release from the IDC, where he had been for almost two years. He walked out of the IDC at about 8 pm on Friday.

Asante is also expected to meet with his attorneys Gerald Ramdeen, Umesh Maharaj and Dayadai Harripaul soon and to visit his doctor at the end of the week.

He had been at the IDC since 2017 and was expected to be deported on January 28 last year. He registered as an asylum seeker with the UN Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in October 2018, but this was refused on March 22 this year, according to the court documents filed in support of an application for his freedom.

The judge hearing the matter was expected to give his decision yesterday, but this was vacated because of Asante's release. Justice Ricky Rahim was told by e-mail on Friday that by ministerial permit, Asante would be allowed to remain in TT for 12 months.

Asante, in pleading for his release, said he missed his wife and family in Trinidad and his detention had taken a toll on them.

He also said the conditions at the IDC were terrible as the toilets and showers do not work well and drinking water and toiletries were scarce.

“The place is very hot and dusty, we don’t have air conditioning, just some old vents. The place is too crowded and dirty. Food is disgusting and not enough. We at the centre get sick often and only get Panadol as medicine for every disease,” he said in an affidavit filed in support of his application.

However, on July 22, in response to a pre-action protocol letter, attorney Abdul Mohammed of the Immigration Division’s Enforcement Unit told Asante’s attorneys that when tickets were bought to send him back to Ghana on June 17, 2018, the process was frustrated by their client, who refused to leave the IDC at the time.

They were also told that Asante could have been released on an order of supervision once a $20,000 security bond was paid by him. The sum is the cost of sending Asante back to Ghana and the attorneys were told that these terms to facilitate his release are still available once he pays the bond.

“Once payment of that deposit/bond is received, the release of your client will be immediately facilitated. The payment of a security bond to facilitate release is in accordance with the division’s regular policy in dealing with Asylum Seekers who have been ordered deported prior to their application,” the division’s attorney advised.

On June 13, the Prime Minister agreed to the release of Asante, the sole Ghanaian at the IDC, after meeting with Ghana’s President Nana Akufo-Addo during an official state visit to TT.

Rowley also announced a pardon for jailed Nigerians, similar to the amnesty granted to Venezuelans earlier that month.

At a joint media briefing with Akufo-Addo, the Prime Minister said Africans at the IDC would be allowed to register once there were no criminal matters against them. Rowley said there were a few Nigerians at the IDC who had been there for quite some time and only one Ghanaian.

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"Ghanaian doing well after release from IDC"

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