Hunger strike in maximum security jail
While this country is complaining about the large numbers of deportees from the United States (over 1,700 in the last eight years) illegal immigrants languishing in jails here are actually begging to be deported.
In fact, some 49 illegal immigrants from West Africa are yearning so badly to be deported that they have even tried a hunger strike at the Maximum Security Prison, Arouca – to no avail.
Tntinsider learnt the men, who have been in jail for over two years, are so desperate that they are calling on Nelson Mandela to help them.
The men claim that the Government of Trinidad and Tobago has not done anything for them but are simply keeping them in jail. They feel that they should be kept at a detention centre until they are sent back home.
They went on hunger strike but called it off when they realised they were being ignored by their jailers.
They are calling on Mandela to alert West African leaders to their plight.
“We are being told that the Government of Trinidad and Tobago cannot pay our airfares”, said one of the detainees.
“We would like our people to assist us.”
They claim they have been ignored by their diplomatic representatives and are denied the privilege of making telephone calls.
The Tntinsider was told that the deportation of illegal immigrants was a constant headache for the authorities and was a very costly exercise.
For instance, prostitutes from South America were held at Golden Grove for long periods because in many cases it was difficult to determine their country of origin since they did not have passports, having sneaked through the back door.
It appears that this is the same case with illegal immigrants from West Africa who would have forged documents, in some cases passports from other Caricom territories.
These West African illegal immigrants would generally be using Trinidad and Tobago as a stopover to get to the United States.