Chairman of the Emancipation Support Committee Kafra Kambon has lashed out against the manner in which 11 illegal Ghanaians were deported around 4 am yesterday. Describing the move as “disgusting” and one which brought this country into “serious disrepute,” Kambon said the deportation came like a thief in the night. He also demanded that someone be held accountable, charging that those from Africa were deliberately treated inhumanely.
“We as a people have to stop that and we are not going to relent and some people are going to lose their jobs over this,” Kambon added. He said the deportees were treated worse than criminals by immigration officials. “For the past number of days their wives were not allowed to visit them. They were debarred from visits and they were not allowed to get a hearing or anything like that.
“We knew that something was up... They were treated as if they were the worst criminals in T&T. People were calling me from the airport crying.” Kambon also called on the Government treat those seeking asylum in T&T in a more humane manner and take their plight into serious consideration.
“You have women all over this country who are crying now...Who are breaking down because their husbands are now being stolen away from them and now are out of the country without giving them a hint that this was happening,” Kambon said. “You don’t even do that with criminals, much more with persons who simply came here seeking a better life and worse again those who are taking care of families they have with local women. Some of them have children.
“This is absolutely and utterly disgraceful.” But National Security Minister Gary Griffith defended the move yesterday, saying Government acted within the ambit of the law. Speaking in a telephone interview from New York, Griffith said, “I know that arrangements were being made according to the law.
“They were a liability on the public’s purse and they were breaking the law. So there was no option but to have them sent back to their respective countries, because not having them deported would simply result in opening a Pandora’s box.” On the concerns raised by Kambon, Griffith said he would take all the issues into consideration, adding there was always the possibility some of the deportees could return to T&T based on humanitarian grounds.
“I applaud Mr Kambon’s concerns and I fully understand his sentiments. Mr Kambon will be providing me with a list of these persons who want to come to this country and I will definitely take this into consideration to determine who could possibly return and on what grounds. “So there is always the possibility of some of them returning. That has never been ruled out,” Griffith added. He said some of the illegal immigrants were also staying in T&T under the pretext of marriage.
“We have information that there are instances where persons were being paid as much as $30,000 to be married and they would then use this as an avenue to stay in the country,” he said. On the cost, Griffith said he did not have the figure but said one CAL aircraft was chartered to deport all the immigrants.
“Sometimes we have to spend thousands of dollars to send back one person. So instead of deporting persons one by one a single aircraft was chartered to deport everyone, which in essence was much cheaper,” Griffith said. Also contacted yesterday, Attorney General Anand Ramlogan scoffed at Kambon’s comments, accusing him of playing the race card.
“The national security minister has already produced the statistics to show that illegal immigrants of various nationalities are in fact routinely deported and that the African immigrants actually comprise less than 25 per cent. “This is an insidious attempt to play the race card when there is absolutely no justification or reason for it. It is stupid, dangerous and reckless. The rule of law has prevailed and due process was followed,” Ramlogan said.
He echoed Griffith’s statements that genuine cases would always be considered and in accordance with the law. But Ramlogan warned that this country must be vigilant to ensure that the immigration laws were not misused and manipulated by those who wish to use it as cover up for criminal activity.
“For example, one of the deportees who arrived from Ghana and was subsequently arrested in the UK for carrying drugs from Trinidad, he was convicted and jailed and was about to be deported to Ghana but insisted on returning to Trinidad. “Intelligence suggests that the growing problem of illegal immigrants is linked to the escalating crime problems in addition to the pressure it places on our social and health care services.”
He said given the stringent economic times it would be foolish to indiscriminately open T&T’s borders and ignore the social consequences.