Scholar on TT migration: Seek assistance regionally

BABE IN ARMS:
A man keeps a baby well above the waves as he and other migrants believed to be Venezuelans landed at Los Iros beach after arriving in a pirogue. PHOTO BY LINCOLN HOLDER -
BABE IN ARMS: A man keeps a baby well above the waves as he and other migrants believed to be Venezuelans landed at Los Iros beach after arriving in a pirogue. PHOTO BY LINCOLN HOLDER -

TT should seek assistance regionally for a constructive response to the Venezuelan migrant situation, because larger states simply may not care, said professor of global governance at the University of California Alison Brysk during a virtual lecture on the future of human rights, hosted by the University of the West Indies.

Answering questions during her lecture, Brysk said one of the challenges in migrant issues is how much support regional countries get from hegemonic states as they become the frontline recipients of migrants.

“Regional host countries are less visible and sometimes they are not getting...help from international organisations,” she said. “Venezuelan migrants are clearly a problem throughout the Caribbean. There could be a more constructive response with greater regional co-operation, not waiting for the world at large, which is not much of an option.”

Two days ago. according to international news sources, European countries like Greece, Italy, Spain and Malta, which have borne the brunt of Europe’s migrants, signed a joint memo calling for the European Council to enact measures to ensure greater burden-sharing, to set out rules for the responsibilities and obligations of countries for migrants when they first enter and an effective system of returns for migrants.

Brysk said the handling of migrant issues is one of the greater challenges in the protection of human rights. She said there are many gaps in the system, and because of the uncertainty of covid19 there have been contractions of policies to treat with migrants.

“There is a governance gap, a lack of responsibilities and an unhealthy dynamic between the regional host states that are bearing the burdens but are not being given support, and the hegemonic states that don’t even want to know about the issues.”

These countries may have their own immigration issues. According to a New York Times report published in October it was indicated that more than 5,000 children had been separated from their parents at the US border under the Trump administration.

One of the bigger debating points during the US election was the issue of 545 children who are in state custody three years after their parents – deemed undocumented migrants – were deported.

According to reports, in the rush to enforce a zero-tolerance policy on undocumented migrants announced in 2018, the locations where the parents would be sent were not filed and, some three years later, they still cannot be found.

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