January 30, 2024
There are some who would prefer that I remain silent. However, there are some outstanding issues that need to be resolved and I have no way of communicating with my former colleague because they are all seemingly so caught up in their own hubris.
On Friday last, our PM spoke in Parliament about the repatriation of our citizens in Syria and Iraq.
International Human Rights Organisations have been calling on our Government to repatriate our citizens.
We are all mindful of the need to address the national security concerns but we also need to balance this with the human rights and humanitarian considerations.
72 of these citizens are little children. 25 are women. Approximately 56 of these children are below the age of 12 and 33 of them are below the age of 7 and do not even have the capacity to be found guilty of a crime.
The Government’s response continues to be about how complex the issue is and they keep fueling a fear in the country which I consider to be very Islamaphobic and unwarranted.
Information has been shared with various officials identifying these citizens and where they are.
A Repatriation Plan was developed since 2020 with an Agreement signed by immediate relatives to collaborate with the State Agencies to ensure a dignified and smooth repatriation. Reunification and reintegration.
Various NGO’s and Professionals have committed to assisting in the reintegration process.
Several public documents have been shared where various U.S. Military Officials have indicated their willingness to assist in the Repatriation Process.
The PM is on his way to Washington DC and it is my considered view that he has a golden opportunity to ask for a collaboration with The Us Government and our stakeholders here in Trinidad to bring about a dignified and successful repatriation.
Other countries have done it already including Barbados.
There are lessons learnt from the Swedish and Danish repatriations.
In keeping with the statement below that indicate that matters of diplomacy and security are to be discussed, I really wish our Prime Minister would see it fit to engage in some meaningful dialogue to resolve this long outstanding issue.
It is a pity that the current Minister of National Security is not included in this delegation.
I really wait to see how sincere the utterances are on this matter.
Sincerely,
Nafeesa Mohamed