(Trinidad Express) Prime Minister Dr Keith Rowley has instructed National Security Minister Stuart Young to deport Venezuelan nationals who have not registered with the Government.
In issuing the instruction, the prime minister recalled that 250 Venezuelans have taken legal action against the State for the opportunity to register and, according to their attorney, want the Government to issue them registration cards within 28 days so they can work locally.
As he noted this, the prime minister quipped: “These people have money they don’t know what to do with.”
He was speaking at a sod-turning ceremony for construction of the new Carenage Police Station on the Carenage Main Road yesterday.
The Government gave ample notice and information as to the two-week registration process carried out from May 31 to June 14, Rowley said.
Those who did not seize the opportunity to register didn’t want to be here, he added.
Rowley was adamant Trinidad and Tobago has dealt with an influx of Venezuelans fleeing economic and social turmoil in the best way it could, and has done better than some other countries facing the same issue.
However, he said the Government will not bow to pressure to open refugee camps locally, as these sites are not easily closed.
The volume of people a refugee camp would bring to T&T would be a threat to a small country, Rowley said, adding: “The end in Trinidad would have been worse than the end in Venezuela.”
Saying “we don’t have to label people refugees to be kind to them”, Rowley warned against being forced to accept people declaring themselves to be refugees when they are economic migrants seeking “a better cup of food”.
