Does T&T Have a Foreign Policy Anymore?

There have been many calls for Faris Al-Rawi to be relieved of his position as Attorney General due to his numerous failures in both presenting legislation to the Parliament, and in a number of judicial matters he has filed on behalf of the Government. But his latest defense of the position by the Immigration Division in deporting eighty-two Venezuelan refugees, despite our country ratifying several international charters pertaining to the acceptance of asylum seekers, is inexcusable. For him to suggest that our adoption of international agreements does not automatically translate to domestic practice or legislation is as misguided as his knowledge in other arms of the law. So the time has come for the Prime Minister to decide whether he can continue to employ an Attorney General who demonstrates neither understanding of domestic nor foreign law. 

It is noteworthy as well, that this move by the T&T government comes only one month following the disaster at the OAS meeting where our delegation was instructed to refuse the plea by the Dominican government to waive their membership fees as their country recovers from the hurricanes which ravaged it last year. This is also two years after the Rowley administration also began deporting Jamaican nationals who were migrating to T&T as part of the CARICOM Single Market and Economy regulations. More than that however, is that it further proceeds our Prime Minister's sentiments during the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, where he criticized the treatment of the descendants of the 'Windrush' generation who were being threatened with deportation by the British Government. This statement prompted an almost immediate apology by the Prime Minister of the United Kingdom, Theresa May, who gave an assurance that these persons would not be deported. How hypocritical must he feel that even before he could return home from that conference, our immigration officials were placing these Venezuelan refugees on a plane to return them to their country. 

While it is correct that we do not currently have legislation pertaining to refugees, it has been government policy for decades that asylum seekers would be processed and accepted on a case-by-case status. But to return these persons to the country and the lives that they were escaping is not only a human rights violation, but it violates basic human decency as well. Where is the government that was only last year begging our citizens to open their pots to our neighbors in the face of a crisis? Of course, now that the six month grace period has expired for the Dominicans since the Prime Minister invited them here in September 2017, does this mean that they are now in danger of having the Immigration officers deport any of them that may still be in T&T? 

This government needs to decide on a foreign relations policy and abide by it for the rest of their term in office, because the mixed messages that we are sending to our regional and international allies are damaging our image and our relationships. For us to be inviting persons from other continents to live and work in our country, but refusing to open the doors to our regional neighbors speaks a lot to our priorities and agenda. T&T is too small a nation to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with larger and more influential governments, but what gives us an edge is our standing in the region. If our relationship with our regional partners are compromised however, we might find that the "one from ten" philosophy doesn't give us any advantage in a global community.