Lawsuit over horror conditions at heliport — $M for 3 Venezuelan children

THREE Venezuelan children will receive $1.27 million for the conditions they endured during their two-month detention at the heliport in Chaguaramas. Master Shurlanne Pierre made the order on July 30.

She said the three aged 12, seven, and two, were kept in a facility where there were no provisions for their recreational or educational welfare. “There were no play areas which, we know, are quite important for children,” she added.

In her assessment, Pierre also accepted the evidence on the effect the conditions had on the three.

The children and their mother were detained at the heliport from December 15, 2020, to February 17, 2021, after a High Court judge ordered the mother’s conditional release. A deportation order was issued for the mother on January 12, 2021, but not the children.

They arrived illegally in Trinidad on November 17, 2020, with scores of other Venezuelans and were arrested shortly after, the mother – who filed the claim for herself and her children – said in her affidavit. They were escorted out of TT waters by the Coast Guard in the vessel they came in. However, on November 24, they tried again to enter TT and were arrested by police.

They were first detained under a quarantine order in connection with covid at a health facility, then at the Erin Police Station and finally at the heliport.

In July 2023, the heliport was designated an immigration detention centre after a High Court judge held that the facility, at the time, was not a designated detention centre as prescribed for in the Immigration Act.

The heliport was established in June 2020 by then National Security Minister Stuart Young as a quarantine and detention facility to house people detained by the immigration authority during the pandemic.

The judge said the designation had an end date for when the pandemic was officially declared over.

The children’s mother successfully filed a constitutional motion and damages were ordered, to be assessed by a master.

In her ruling, Pierre said there were exceptional factors in the case as she ordered compensation for the “tortious acts committed against very young children.” She said there was a suite of legislation and international conventions to ensure children are not exposed to harsh treatment and are safeguarded.

Each child will receive $425,000, plus interest, “for what they have suffered.”

She ordered that the sums be deposited to the court which will then put it in an interest-bearing account for the children by the registrar. When they reach the age of 18, they can apply for access to the money. In the interim, their mother can apply to the court for whatever she may need, to meet the children’s immediate needs.

The children and their mother were represented by Gerald Ramdeen and Dayadai Harripaul.

In her affidavit, the mother said that at the “military facility,” they were put in an area with tents and cots.

“There was no means of privacy under the tents and all the cots were placed in rows. All the adults, both male and female and all the children had to stay under these tents in close proximity to each other. There was no separation of the male adults and the children.”

She said they stayed under the tents for more than 20 days. What disturbed her, she said, was that adults were mixing with children. They were removed from under the tents and taken into what she described as a dormitory. Men and women were separated.

However, she said, the place was cramped and hot and ventilation was poor. She complained of the limited provision of drinking water, being forced to drink discoloured water from the tap.

In January, Justice Margaret Mohammed quashed the mother’s deportation order.

In a separate ruling involving some of the other Venezuelans in the group, Mohammed ordered $2.4 million for a mother and her 15-year-old son for their detention at the heliport. The mother called for the facility to be shut down.

In her ruling in that case, Mohammed criticised the egregious and contemptuous conduct of the State.

She said the defendants knew from the design stage of the heliport and throughout the boy’s detention that the facility was not suitable to detain any minor

In November 2023, another High Court judge ordered a total of $2.4 million in compensation to more than two dozen Venezuelan migrants for their illegal detention at two police stations in the south-western police district, after they were arrested in July 2020 for entering TT illegally.