Court orders 64 migrants released from Heliport

A group of 64 Venezuelan migrants detained at the Chaguaramas Heliport has been granted conditional release pending the outcome of their lawsuit over their proposed deportation.

Delivering a decision yesterday afternoon, Justice Ricky Rahim ordered that the group be released on orders of supervision which will remain in place until their joint substantive lawsuit is eventually determined.

While the Immigration Division was also barred from executing the deportation orders against the group, Justice Rahim did not invalidate them (the orders).

The migrants were among a large group of fellow nationals who were detained for immigration offences at a nightclub in St James on July 8.

Two weeks ago, however, High Court Judge Avason Quinlan-Williams upheld a claim from six of the detainees in which they contended that they were unlawfully held at the location, which was officially designated as a quarantine facility for the COVID-19 pandemic but not as an immigration detention station.

Two days later, High Court Judge Frank Seepersad considered a similar application from another of the detainees.

However, Justice Seepersad did not order his release as his colleague did with the six others, as the case came up for hearing after National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds issued the suggested declaration regarding the location. Justice Seepersad did rule that he would be entitled to compensation for his brief unlawful detention, which would be calculated at a later date.

In their application for judicial review, the group was mainly challenging the failure of National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds to place them on supervision orders so that they could complete their asylum seeker/refugee applications with the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).

In deciding that the group should be granted leave to pursue its substantive case, Justice Rahim noted that under the Immigration Act, the Chief Immigration Officer first considers whether detainees should be released on supervision orders pending deportation.

Read more. Court orders 64 migrants released from Heliport – Trinidad Guardian