Judge stops deportation of nine more Venezuelans

A day after a High Court judge gave the State the go-ahead to deport an 11-year-old Venezuelan girl, another judge has granted four orders preventing the deportation of nine more members of a group of 26.

Late Wednesday, Justice Joan Charles issued orders restraining the State from removing the nine from the jurisdiction for the duration of their quarantine period.

They returned to Trinidad on November 24.

In all, so far Charles and Justice Avason Quinlan-Williams have granted 22 applications for interim relief to the Venezuelans, mostly women and children. Only one was denied.
The judge acknowledged Tuesday’s ruling by Justice Frank Seepersad, but said she will still approve the applications filed by attorneys who are representing the Venezuelans.
In his decision, Seepersad said he was not satisfied that the girl, or her mother – who previously came to TT illegally and made arrangements for her daughter to join her – were facing persecution in Venezuela.

“The evidence, at this stage, suggests to the court that the decision to come to this republic was driven primarily by self-centred socio-economic considerations,” he said.

“There are many citizens in this republic faced with difficult economic circumstances and they too may wish to go to another country where economic prospects are brighter, but they cannot and should not be entitled to be refugees or asylum-seeking status under the 1951 Convention (on the Status of Refugees).”

The judge said it was clear government had departed from the draft policy on asylum-seekers and refugees adopted by Cabinet in 2014 because of the pandemic, in order to protect citizens.

“Policy decisions rest with the executive and difficult decisions have to be made and policy effected to navigate the country through the pandemic and, at the same time, constitutional compliance and parliamentary oversight cannot be dismissed or disregarded,” he said.
He added that illegal entry during a pandemic exposes citizens to risk.

Twenty-two of the 26 Venezuelans are represented by attorneys Gerald Ramdeen, Nerisa Bala, Dayadai Harripaul and Umesh Maharaj.
In keeping with a previous order by Quinlan-Williams the group of 26 were removed from the Erin police station, where they were being held, and transferred to the State’s quarantine facility at the heliport in Chaguaramas.

On Tuesday, the Coast Guard announced the facility was closed to visitors because one of the Venezuelans tested positive for covid19. In keeping with health protocols, everyone at the facility will be quarantined for 14 days. The Venezuelans were already under a 14-day quarantine order before one of them tested positive.

On Saturday, Government deported 180 Venezuelans, some of whom were being detained at the heliport.
On Wednesday, Attorney General Faris al-Rawi said Seepersad’s Tuesday ruling was very important in clarifying the law on treating with illegal immigrants. National Security Minister Stuart Young he remained concern about human trafficking and smuggling.

Speaking on the Morning Brew programme on CNC3 on Tuesday, the Prime Minister said the migrants could not have more rights than TT nationals, warning that this country’s borders were closed and anyone entering the country illegally would be deported.

Dr Rowley also said those who were registered under the government’s amnesty programme and were found to have facilitated the illegal entry of others will be deregistered and deported.

Government has decided not to register any more Venezuelans, and the amnesty expires at the end of the year.