UN says Trinidad forcibly deported Venezuelan refugees

24/4/2018 6:31

        The United
        Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) on Monday criticized what it
        called the forced deportation of 82 Venezuelan asylum seekers by
        Trinidad and Tobago that the Caribbean country's government
        insisted was voluntary.
        
        The UNHCR said the people had been held in detention in
        Trinidad and Tobago and that they were deported on Saturday
        without the agency being given access to them.
        
        "The forced return of this group is of great concern,"
        Volker Turk, UNHCR's Assistant High Commissioner for Protection
        said in a statement.
        
        "We are in contact with the authorities and are seeking
        clarification on the legal process which has led to the
        deportations," Turk said.
        
        The UNHCR said the group was made up of registered asylum
        seekers and others who had declared an intention to apply for
        refugee status, and the government had not granted the agency
        access to the detainees prior to deportation.
        
        The agency in March reported a 2,000 percent increase in the
        number of Venezuelans seeking asylum worldwide since 2014,
        encouraging countries to give them access to refugee measures
        and warning that it was crucial people were not forcibly
        deported.
        
        The agency has been working with governments in the
        Caribbean to help them cope with the influx of refugee.
        
        Venezuela has descended into an economic and social crisis,
        with millions suffering political insecurity.
        
        Economic collapse has driven an estimated 3 million people
        from the country.
        
        Trinidad and Tobago denied the deportations were forced and
        said the Venezuelans had been detained at the immigration
        detention center (IDC) for various offenses.
        
        "At the airport, each person was asked if they had any fear
        or objection to returning to their homeland; all stated that
        they wanted to leave," the Ministry of National Security said in
        a statement. “No one was forced or coerced to leave the IDC."
        
        UNHCR spokesman Chris Boian said established procedures
        agreed with the government of Trinidad and Tobago had not been
        followed.
        
        "Registered asylum seekers who decide to return home must
        first receive counseling from UNHCR and submit a written
        statement," that the decision was voluntary, he said.
        
        The ministry said the repatriation of the 53 men and 29
        women was a collaborative effort with the Venezuelan embassy,
        which arranged for the detainees to return to Caracas on a
        Venezuelan government aircraft.