Adiós amigos...Close to 700 sick, jobless migrants return to Venezuela

A group of Venezuelan nationals as they arrived at the Cruise Ship Complex in Port of Spain to return home on Saturday. - Photo by Sureash Cholai
A group of Venezuelan nationals as they arrived at the Cruise Ship Complex in Port of Spain to return home on Saturday. - Photo by Sureash Cholai

Close to 700 Venezuelan nationals who sought refuge in Trinidad and Tobago to escape the economic and political turmoil in their homeland left this country on a chartered vessel on Saturday to head back home.

Most of the passengers were sick, unemployed, single mothers, pregnant women and children.

Some of the adults had taken advantage of the registration exercise in mid-2019 offered by the Government which allowed 16,523 of them to live and work in this country.

But the forced closure of restaurants, bars, and other businesses to combat the spread of covid19 left hundreds of Venezuelan nationals jobless, hungry and some even evicted from their rented apartments and longing to return home.

Even though TT's borders were closed to the refugees after the registration exercise, many Venezuelans still made it ashore over the last two years, arriving in pirogues on deserted beaches around the country's porous borders.

Venezuelan nationals arrive at the Cruise Ship Complex on Saturday. - Photo by Sureash Cholai

Those arrested were fined, imprisoned and others promptly deported.

At the close of the registration exercise, the government instituted a visa requirement for Venezuelans seeking to come to TT.

The vast majority of the passengers on Saturday said they had to return home owing to various difficulties they endured in TT.

Passenger Jorge Arellan said he was leaving behind his 18-month-old child to seek medical attention in Venezuela. Venezuelans are limited in the type of treatment they can receive at TT public health institutions.

"I worked while I was healthy, then I started to get sick from a facial attack and between the sun and the worries of not being able to work I was forced to go home to my family," he said.

Arellan and four of his relative returned to Venezuela.

Another passenger, Alfredo Marín, said he decided to leave owing to lack of employment during the pandemic and could not pay his rent.

Hundreds of Venezuelans, including children, crowd Dock Road, Port of Spain waiting to enter the Cruise Ship Complex to board a ferry to return to Venezuela on Saturday morning. - Photo by Sureash Cholai

"In Venezuela the economic and social situation is very difficult, but I will not pay rent and that is a relief," he said.

Mariannis Gómez returned to Venezuela with her three children, five, eight and nine, as they were unable to get an education in TT.

"We have been in Trinidad for two years and my children only learned a few words in English thanks to Trinidadian neighbours, but not having the opportunity to study in schools here is forcing us to return home for their education."

Many of those who left had the same concern: How they will find their country after leaving it to come to TT.

The return trip between the Port of Spain and the port of Guanta in eastern Venezuela is approximately ten hours, so the ship was expected to dock around midnight on Saturday.

In February, the Venezuelan Embassy in TT arranged a flight to take home 96 people free of charge as part of the "Vuelta a la Patria" (Come Home) plan the Nicolás Maduro government put into practice in August 2020.

In 2019, Venezuela was plunged into crisis as its economy collapsed which led to an uprising of political opposition to Maduro which challenged the legitimacy of the country’s leadership.

Millions of people fled the country seeking food, work, and a better life and some travelled to TT, which is just seven miles off the mainland of Venezuela.

Police tried to keep order and health protocols among Venezuelans waiting to board a ferry to take back them home at the Cruise Ship Complex in Port of Spain. - Photo by Sureash Cholai

The exodus has been described by international aid agencies as the single largest migration in recent years, which was fuelled by hyperinflation, violence, food and medicine shortages and political turmoil.

Saturday's repatriation trip, which was arranged by the Venezuelan Embassy and the Government of Venezuela, was made via a passenger vessel which left the Cruise Ship Complex in Port of Spain after 1 pm.

From as early as 4.30 am, the passengers began arriving, 30 minutes before the 9 pm-5 am curfew expired, but it was not until four and a half hours later the first group began to board the ship.

The Prime Minister mentioned the repatriation mission at the health briefing on Saturday and said the trip was arranged by the Venezuelan government and the passengers wanted to return home.

Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs Dr Amery Browne and Minister of National Security Fitzgerald Hinds were at the port,

Venezuelan Ambassador to TT Carlos Perez, left, Minister of Foreign and Caricom Affairs Dr Amery Browne and National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds were on hand to oversee the hundreds of on the repatriation mission on Saturday. - Photo by Sureash Cholai

Browne told the media the trip was arranged as a result of joint work between the Venezuelan and TT authorities.

“Today is a happy day because after many hours of organisation, finally about 700 Venezuelan nationals can return to their land. Venezuela and TT are neighbouring countries and very close throughout history and we are proud of this process to help Venezuelans return to their homes,” said Browne.

The exact number of Venezuelans who left was not confirmed pending the review of all ID documents.

"It is a precise exercise of great care and efficiency on the part of the officials of the Venezuelan embassy and the immigration department," the minister said.

The Ministry of National Security intends to review the data provided by the passengers and compare it with the data obtained from the registration to determine how many people who left were registered to live and work in TT.

Browne said if any of them wanted to return to TT they would have to obtain a visa.

Hinds said the exercise was a result of teamwork by police and the immigration department.

Asked what will happen to other Venezuelans who are in TT legally, Hinds said: “We recognise the current circumstances and we need to know the exact data of the registered Venezuelans who are still here and for that matter. This was done at the beginning of this year, the re-registration for the renewal of expired cards."

The Venezuelan ambassador in TT Carlos Amador Perez said the work was "titanic" in the last days.

"We are proud and calm because there was great help from everyone, both the Trinidadian authorities, as well as the passengers and the work team of the embassy."

Perez said he does not know yet if there will be another repatriation trip.

"Everything will depend on the requests of the Venezuelans who are in TT."

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"Adiós amigos…Close to 700 sick, jobless migrants return to Venezuela"

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