By Sue-Ann Wayow
GOVERNMENT is prepping to receive the 21 deportees from the US on Friday morning who will be closely monitored and assisted.
Minister of Defence Wayne Sturge said measures were in place to receive the deportees at the Piarco International Airport arriving on a flight at 1.30 am.
Sturge, speaking during the post-Cabinet press briefing on Thursday said of the 21, three had no criminal charges and were being sent back due to immigration issues.
Of the rest, three had committed sexual offences, with two committing sexual offences to children and one person engaged in human trafficking.
He said the three persons without criminal history would not be subjected to the same level of scrutiny as the others.
“These are the persons we have an interest in,” Sturge said about the three on sexual offences and the human trafficker.
He said, “It is now settled that the persons with sexual convictions recorded against them that we can have them registered on the Sex Offenders Registry. There was a divergence of views on that but we are settled. We have of the considered view that they can be registered so that there is protection for society and there is the ability of the police to monitor them so there is no need for undue concern.”
Sturge said sometimes, the deportees network with gangs to stay by gang members places upon arrival.
“That is what we are trying to avoid. As far as possible, those who need to be monitored would be monitored and if after a period of time passes and we see that their trajectory is in the right direction, there will be no need for monitoring,” he said.
Sturge said meetings this week were held with Vision on Mission (VoM) and out of concerns expressed, decided to have further discussions with three stakeholders – chief of defence staff, Special Investigations Unit (SIU) head and the chief immigration officer.
This was being done to ensure the debriefing and transition for the deportees proceed without any hiccups he said.
VoM, a non-governmental organisation provides rehabilitation, reintegration , and resettlement services to the most vulnerable groups in the region while adhering to the Restorative Justice Philosophy.
Many times, VoM would have to wait outside the airport to try to ascertain who the deportees were and if they would have needed assistance, Sturge said.
He said, “As of Friday coming, the Immigration Department, they have agreed to facilitate Vision on Mission and to have a room allocated to them so when the deportees arrive, they will be taken into the room. They (the deportees) will be debriefed. Vision on Mission will indicate to them what services they provide, what is available to them in terms of housing and so on.”
The Trinidad and Tobago Police Service (TTPS) and units within the TTPS would photograph, swab and take fingerprints of the deportees and would also take statements.
Sturge said in prior situations the US authorities would have organised and send comprehensive briefs on each deportee however not in this case.
“The information provided is not much, apart from name, offence, date of birth and things like that.”
He said he have asked the ministry’s permanent secretary to reach out to the US requesting swabbing and fingerprinting without much success.
Sturge also said not all will be housed at VoM and assessments will be made upon airport arrival because some of them have “been out of jurisdiction” for decades.
He said, “They may have lost touch with their relatives, they may not have places to stay and so on. We are trying as far as possible to assist them because they have been uprooted from families and in order to make a fresh start despite of their criminal history, they are human beings, they would be traumatised and there would be need to assist them somewhat.”
Sturge also added that the Piparo Empowerment Centre would not be used in this instance to house the deportees.
And he said the ministry will be planning for future deportation and that he could not assume how many out of some 350,000 local citizens formed part of the US diaspora would be deported.
