San Juan (EFE).- Trinidad and Tobago has ordered the detention and deportation of at least 200 Venezuelans, officials said Tuesday, as diplomatic tensions with Caracas escalate.
The Ministry of National Security instructed immigration authorities to locate and transfer around 200 undocumented Venezuelans to the Immigration Detention Centre for deportation, according to an official memorandum signed by Permanent Secretary Videsh Maharaj.
Maharaj’s order, issued on Monday, states that “all illegal immigrants will be gathered before being deported,” without prior supervision or individual review. “This will be carried out as an official immigration exercise,” the document notes.
The deportations form part of Persad-Bissessar’s campaign promise to tighten immigration controls. When asked in August about the timeline for implementing the policy, the prime minister responded that it would happen “soon.”
Persad-Bissessar defends crackdown
Persad-Bissessar defended the decision, arguing that the previous administration failed to curb illegal migration, which she claims has fueled crime in the country.
“That is what they allowed to happen over the past ten years,” the prime minister said in remarks to local reporters. “There was no attempt by our predecessors to distinguish between Venezuelans legitimately fleeing their country and those who came here with criminal intentions.”
Trinidad and Tobago, an island nation of 1.5 million people, has received thousands of Venezuelans in recent years who have fled political and economic turmoil at home.
Human rights organizations have repeatedly urged the government to provide greater protection for asylum seekers and refugees.
Diplomatic fallout with Venezuela
The deportation order comes as relations between Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela deteriorate amid growing regional tensions.
The two governments have recently clashed over the United States military presence in the Caribbean.
Over the weekend, Port of Spain allowed a US Navy destroyer to dock for joint exercises aimed at countering alleged drug trafficking routes in Caribbean waters.
In response, Venezuelan President Nicolás Maduro announced on Monday the “immediate suspension” of all bilateral gas agreements with Trinidad and Tobago, accusing Persad-Bissessar of turning the island nation into “a US aircraft carrier against South America.”
“Everything is suspended,” Maduro declared during a televised address, adding that he had approved a proposal from the Ministry of Hydrocarbons and state oil company PDVSA to halt all cooperation following the arrival of the US vessel. EFE
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