MP Rambally meets with Human Rights Watch on nationals in Syria

Chaguanas West MP Dinesh Rambally has said he met with Human Rights Watch associate director Letta Tayler and advocacy director Jo Becker on Wednesday.

He said meetings such as this are important for properly informed decisions to be made on the issue of repatriating Trinidad and Tobago nationals from northeast Syria.

In a release on Wednesday, Rambally said Tayler and Becker are in TT to highlight the serious issue of the unlawful detention of TT nationals, particularly children, in Syria.

They held a press conference on the topic on Tuesday.

UNC MP Rambally said the 2023 HRW report Trinidad and Tobago: Bring Home Nationals from Northeast Syria – Unlawfully Detained Trinidadians at Risk, including 56 children, said there are over 90 TT nationals currently unlawfully held in life-threatening conditions in Syria.

“This is an extremely serious issue involving international criminal law (and) national security, as well as the rights of innocent children who, through no fault of their own, are now imprisoned in Syria under brutal and inhumane conditions.”

He said HRW had also shared a report titled My Son is Just Another Kid, which details the experiences of children who have been successfully repatriated from camps in Syria to a range of other countries. They are there because they or their relatives had previously been involved with ISIS.

“As an attorney at law, involved in issues affecting constitutional and human rights, I believe that in order to properly make informed decisions on the issues facing the national security of TT as well as understand the issues facing the plight of detained children in Syria, meetings such as these are of critical importance.

"I am thankful to Ms Tayler and Ms Becker for inviting me and sharing their information and analysis on this important matter facing our nation.”