'OIL THICKER THAN WATER': While rejecting Jamaicans, T&T prepares to welcome Venezuelan refugees

Trinidad and Tobago seems busy preparing to welcome refugees from Venezuela — which is facing an economic and political crisis — even as the twin-island republic continues denying entry to Jamaicans, most of whom have complained about being mistreated.

At least 439 Jamaicans have been denied entry to T&T — a fellow CARICOM member state — over the last 15 months, Foreign Affairs and Foreign Trade Minister Senator Kamina Johnson-Smith disclosed in the Senate on Friday.

In an address to the Upper House, she indicated that most of the reports from the affected Jamaican were centred around mistreatment at immigration and during overnight stays at the Piarco International Airport in Port of Spain.

Johnson-Smith said Jamaica has sought to deal with the issue at the bilateral and regional levels, and indicated that the latest word from Trinidad is that some work has started to improve the situation.

But even bigger plans seem to be in the works for Venezuelas, based on the words of T&T Prime Minister, Dr Keith Rowley.

In response to questions of him in Parliament earlier this week, Rowley said Trinidad and Tobago will likely be faced with a call to provide assistance to Venezuela, its closest neighbour.

He cited the prospect of Venezuelans fleeing their country and seeking refuge in Trinidad and Tobago, and gave a clear signal that Trinidad and Tobago was not an “uninterested bystan­der”.

“There will be some call on the people of Trinidad and Tobago to provide aid and succour in the event that things get worse [in Venezuela]. Hopefully, it will not get to that,” said the PM of the oil-producing Caribbean nation.

He indicated that he was already aware of a number of Venezuelans seeking “aid and succour” in Trinidad and Tobago.

Venezuela, another oil-dominated state, with the world’s largest known oil reserves, has for some time been locked in widespread civil unrest between its government and opposition forces.

The unrest has been centred mainly around harsh economic times that have hit the country in the face of the sharp reduction in global oil prices over recent years, which has triggered rationing of food and personal domestic items, a broad reduction in public work time, and severe energy conservation measures.