Senior Reporter
dareece.polo@guardian.co.tt
There is no research to suggest that an increase in illegal migration is responsible for a rise in crime in Trinidad and Tobago.
This was the sentiment expressed by international researcher and Professor at the University of Delaware, Muqtedar Khan, at the International Conference on Security, Intelligence and Defence in the Caribbean at the University of the Southern Caribbean yesterday.
As he addressed attendees, the American academic called for studies to be conducted into the root cause of crime, although he said it was unlikely to point to foreigners.
“When you look at the academic literature, it’s very clear there is no evidence that there is a direct relation between this rise in immigration both legal and not so legal from Venezuela to Trinidad,” Professor Khan said.
“And let me also tell you that this is rampant across Europe, everywhere in the world, immigrants are often the scapegoat of crime.”
He recommended enhanced cooperation with the United States on state capacity building and technology to aid in crime fighting. However, he warned that there was a thin line between intelligence gathering and spying.
“You must always keep in mind that the moment you start spying on your own citizens, you begin to compromise your democracy, you’re violating their human rights.”
Khan also accused the media of insinuating, through reports, that migrants were mainly responsible for the rise in crime, when they were, in fact, also victims of exploitation.
However, human rights activist Yesenia Gonzales denied that the media had an agenda against Venezuelan migrants.
“I think that’s a very irresponsible statement,” she stated.
“I believe that the media is bringing a certain amount of awareness of what’s going on in respect to the migrants. For instance, what happened to that girl who was raped by three agents of the State, which is the Coast Guard. If the media didn’t bring it out, how would we know?” she asked.
The human rights activist was commenting on the case which will be heard by High Court Justice Westmin James today. The matter involves an accusation by a 21-year-old Venezuelan woman that she was raped by Coast Guard officers at the Heliport in Chaguaramas. Her attorneys allege she was dropped off on the Western Main Road following the assault.
Meanwhile, Gonzales chastised National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds for his statements on May 4, where he noted that more than 70,000 Venezuelan migrants are in T&T, which is significantly more than the 16,000 who registered to live and work in this country in 2019. She reminded Hinds that many Venezuelans were turned away during the amnesty period.
“A lot of people came and they had the opportunity to register–because I was there, and they were standing up for most of the day–and they closed the door in their face. They said that time was up. They said they would have six units where people would be registered and they only had three,” she claimed.
Guardian Media called and sent text messages to Minister Hinds for comment on this claim, but he did not respond up to press time.
Also contacted on the issue, T&T Police Service (TTPS) Public Information Officer Inspector Michelle Lewis said she would respond to the questions once information was retrieved from the Crime and Problem Analysis (CAPA) branch of the TTPS.