Crime and hardship chase thousands of migrants…

VENE REFUGEES FLEE T&T

IN a raw example of the declining quality of life in Trinidad and Tobago, scores of migrants are returning to Venezuela.

The refugees are boarding pirogues at Icacos, Erin, Moruga, and other secluded coastal villages to escape the stark poverty, violent crime, and lack of access to health and education in T&T.

An investigation found that single mothers, in particular, have headed back to the land of their birth with their children.

They have opted to return to a country that is still in the midst of a humanitarian crisis, with widespread poverty and with millions unable to access nutrition and adequate health care.

Speaking in halting English, one woman said she and her two pre-teenaged children spend their days begging for handouts outside of a bank.

She said that was not what she expected when she left Guiria with her children and elderly mother just over two years ago.

Several others told of being sexually exploited and underpaid and overworked at bars and other places of employment.

Independent investigations have uncovered a high incidence of human trafficking of Venezuelan women, sometimes with the involvement of corrupt police officers.

A recent report indicated that there are 36,000 Venezuelan migrants in T&T, but anecdotal evidence suggests that the figure is much more.

There are large communities of refugees in southern communities, especially in Penal-Debe, Fyzabad, Siparia, San Fernando, and Marabella.

Large groups live in low-rent houses in these and other districts.

Some have assimilated into their districts, with low-paying jobs in the informal sector or as domestic workers.

There has been limited official regularisation of the refugees, and, as a result, many are deprived of social assistance or access to other State services and the National Insurance System (NIS).

A United Nations report told of exposure to crime and other safety issues, obstacles to healthcare, exclusion from education, limited access to meaningful jobs, food insecurity, and lack of integration into society.

Scores beg for alms at busy intersections by displaying placards with heartfelt pleas written in English.

In many cases, they are accompanied by their children, often dressed in tattered clothes.

Some of those returning to Venezuela are likely to make efforts to get into the United States after the end of Title 42, which had limited the entry of migrants.

International reports indicate that Venezuelans are among those trudging through dense jungles in the Darien Gap of Central America to enter the US.

Others are attempting to get into Peru, where there are already some 1.5 million Venezuelan refugees.

There is an arduous journey to get into Peru, along with a struggle to survive.

But in each case, the migrants are more optimistic about a better quality of life than in T&T, where they endure untold economic and social hardship and lack of protection from the authorities.

The refugees have had to face major threats and insecurities and difficulty in properly feeding themselves and their respective families.

Now many are fleeing T&T for their troubled land.