Applying for Asylum in Trinidad and Tobago

Asylum-seekers are persons seeking international protection because they fear returning to their country of origin where they are at risk and where they do not benefit from the State’s protection. Any foreign national or stateless person in Trinidad and Tobago may seek asylum regardless of their age, sex, gender, nationality, country of origin, race, religion or political opinion.

Who are asylum seekers?

Asylum seekers are people who have expressed a fear of return to their country of origin either at a port of entry or after entering Trinidad and Tobago. To be officially registered as asylum seekers, they must complete an application for asylum with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (‘UNHCR’) Refugee Agency located at Keate Street, Princes Court, Trinidad and Tobago.

Following this registration, a refugee status determination procedure will be conducted to determine whether the asylum-seeker can be considered a refugee under the 1951 Convention Relating to the Status of Refugees (since Trinidad and Tobago does not yet possess its own national legislation).

Asylum seekers who are afraid to return to their country of origin because they are in danger of suffering serious harm for reasons related to their race, religion, nationality, political opinion, or membership in a particular social group can also claim asylum in Trinidad and Tobago.

Asylum-seekers are protected from forced return to their country of origin (in accordance with the fundamental principle of non-refoulement in international human rights law) from the moment they express a fear of return until a failed decision on refugee status has been determined by the UNHCR.

The principle of non-refoulement in international human rights law

Under international human rights law, the principle of non-refoulement guarantees that no one should be returned to a country where they would face torture, cruel, inhuman, or degrading treatment or punishment, and other irreparable harm. This principle applies to all migrants at all times, irrespective of migration status.

The principle of non-refoulement forms an essential protection under international human rights, refugee, humanitarian and customary law. It prohibits States from transfer ring or removing individuals from their jurisdiction or effective control when there are substantial grounds for believing that the person would be at risk of irreparable harm upon return, including persecution, torture, ill treatment or other serious human rights violations. Under international human rights law, the prohibition of refoulement is explicitly included in the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman, or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (‘CAT’) and the International Convention for the Protection of All Persons from Enforced Disappearance (‘ICPPED’).

International human rights bodies, regional human rights courts, as well as national courts have guided that this principle is an implicit guarantee flowing from the obligations to respect, protect and fulfil human rights.

Scope of non-refoulement

The prohibition of refoulement under international human rights law applies to any form of removal or transfer of persons, regardless of their status, where there are substantial grounds for believing that the returnee would be at risk of irreparable harm upon return on account of torture, ill-treatment or other serious breaches of human rights obligations. As an inherent element of the prohibition of torture and other forms of ill-treatment, the principle of non-refoulement is characterised by its absolute nature without any exception. In this respect, the scope of this principle under relevant human rights law treaties is broader than that contained in international refugee law. The prohibition applies to all persons, irrespective of their citizenship, nationality, statelessness, or migration status, and it applies wherever a State exercises jurisdiction or effective control, even when outside of that State’s territory.

Prepared by the UNHCR UN Refugee Agency