Derek Achong

Eight men from Pak­istan have scored a vic­to­ry in their bid to ap­peal a de­ci­sion by im­mi­gra­tion of­fi­cials to de­ny them en­try in­to this coun­try. 

The group was re­fused en­try af­ter ar­riv­ing at the Pi­ar­co In­ter­na­tion­al Air­port on a Co­pa Air­lines flight from Pana­ma around 1 am on Mon­day.

Al­though the mem­bers of the group ques­tioned the de­ci­sion, im­mi­gra­tion of­fi­cers re­port­ed­ly did not fa­cil­i­tate an ap­peal be­fore a spe­cial in­quiry of­fi­cer as pro­vid­ed un­der Sec­tion 21 of the Im­mi­gra­tion Act. 

One of the men was able to so­lic­it le­gal rep­re­sen­ta­tion by con­tact­ing the own­er of the guest house in Bel­mont they were due to stay at while in Trinidad. 

At­tor­neys Lee Mer­ry, Kel­ston Pope, Ajesh Sumes­sar, and Su­san Kaliper­sad filed a ju­di­cial re­view law­suit over what tran­spired. 

In an af­fi­davit at­tached to the law­suit, Pope claimed that he made nu­mer­ous at­tempts to speak to his clients but was not fa­cil­i­tat­ed.

"I am there­fore un­able to have any of them de­pose to any of the mat­ters stat­ed here­in as they are be­ing held in the se­cure area of the air­port with­out be­ing al­lowed to con­sult with their at­tor­ney," Pope said, as he al­so al­leged that his clients were de­nied meals or drinks since their de­ten­tion. 

Dur­ing an emer­gency hear­ing be­fore Jus­tice West­min James on Mon­day, the group's lawyers were able to ob­tain an in­junc­tion bar­ring the de­por­ta­tion, which was sched­uled to take place yes­ter­day morn­ing. 

When the case came up for hear­ing be­fore Jus­tice Bet­sy-Ann Lam­bert-Pe­ter­son yes­ter­day morn­ing, lawyers rep­re­sent­ing the Chief Im­mi­gra­tion Of­fi­cer con­ced­ed that the mem­bers of the group should be af­ford­ed their ap­peals. 

Guardian Me­dia un­der­stands that the ap­peals are due to take place to­day with the group re­main­ing de­tained at the air­port un­til the process is com­plete.