Deportation of Venezuelan children concerns human rights body

THE INTER-American Commission on Human Rights (IACHR) says it noted with “great concern” that group of Venezuelans were deported last month by putting “children and other adults on pirogues into international waters.”

In a release on Wednesday, the IACHR said the method by which the group was deported entailed “a serious risk to their lives.”

“The commission has equally observed that the proposed beneficiaries were allegedly declared to be ‘undesirable’ by a high state authority upon their return to Trinidad and, as it is of public knowledge, recent further declarations by high authorities, indicated that unregistered migrants will be deported, including affirmations that state ‘[w]e are not putting up a flag saying all children can come here,'” the release said.

It was referring to statements made by National Security Minister Stuart Young at a press conference.

It was for this reason that the IACHR granted protection measures to six migrant children who were part of the group.

“…The potential beneficiaries are in a situation of uncertainty regarding a potential immediate deportation without due assessment of their situation and best interest, which in the present case poses a serious risk to their life and personal integrity,” the release said.

It also said pursuant to Article 25 of its Rules of Procedure, it has requested that Trinidad and Tobago adopt the necessary measures to guarantee the right to life of the six by refraining from deporting or expelling them to Venezuela until authorities have assessed the risks they face.

On Wednesday, the IACHR issued Resolution 93, granting precautionary measures to the six children, said the release from the commission’s headquarters in Washington, DC.

A request was made, it said, because the children “are at imminent risk of being deported to Venezuela without a due analysis of their particular situations, where they allegedly face risk to their rights to life and personal integrity.”

It also said a request was made for ten more children, but some received "uneven" responses from the courts to their protection requests, while some were granted permission to stay until their application is reviewed. The release said the six could be deported at the end of their quarantine period. The 14-day quarantine should have ended on Tuesday, but it was reported that one person tested positive for covid19 on December 1.

A release from the Defence Force said all 25 Venezuelans who returned to TT illegally on November 24 were treated as also being positive and were put in quarantine. It is not certain if the quarantine period was restarted or from what date.

However, the IACHR said the six have alleged they face risks to their life if they return to Venezuela and their allegations were compatible with information the commission has received through its monitoring work.

It also said the fact that the precautionary measure had been granted did not entail a prejudgment on a potential petition that may be filed before it on alleged violation of rights.

In the release, the IAHCR also said it has observed that the six had been deported without an analysis being done of the risks they faced back in Venezuela before they returned to TT two days later.

It regretted there has been no response from the State.

The IACHR is an autonomous body of the Organisation of American States (OAS) and has a mandate to promote respect for, and to defend, human rights in the region.

Meanwhile, attorneys for the 11-year-old Venezuelan girl who was part of the group have appealed a judge’s ruling which paved the way for the authorities to deport her.

On Tuesday, the attorneys filed a notice asking the court to deem the appeal urgent. They also want an expedited appeal.

On December 1, Justice Frank Seepersad dismissed the application filed on the girl’s behalf in which she sought to prevent the authorities from deporting her until her claim for constitutional relief was determined by the court.

The notice of appeal says the effect of Seepersad’s ruling allows the State to deport the girl at any time. She is currently in quarantine at the heliport in Chaguaramas with the others who returned to Trinidad, two days after they were escorted out of TT’s waters by the Coast Guard.

So far of the 25 Venezuelans, mostly women and children, applications for interim relief have been granted for 19 of them, while the State had given an undertaking that they would not deport three, making it 22 of them who are protected, for now, from being deported until their claims in court are determined. Three others were said to have no contacts in TT so attorneys were unable to file for them.

They are represented by attorneys Gerald Ramdeen, Dayadai Harripaul, Umesh Maharaj and Nerisa Bala.

In the notice of appeal, the attorneys argue that the judge was wrong in failing to give effect to the best-interest principle of the child and in not distinguishing between people who enter TT illegally and those seeking asylum. There are 19 grounds of appeal.