T&T nationals left stranded in Syria threaten lawsuit again

Lawyers representing a group of T&T nationals and their children who were left stranded in refugee camps following the collapse of the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) have threatened to file yet another lawsuit over the failure of the State to facilitate their repatriations. The latest legal threat came in a pre-action protocol letter sent to National Security Minister Fitzgerald Hinds late last week by lawyers for Raheema Khan, who is acting as coordinator for the families of the refugees.

It comes as three groups of refugees are currently appealing the dismissal of similar lawsuits over the issue. In the correspondence, obtained by Guardian Media, Khan’s legal team sought to describe the living conditions at the Al-Hawl refugee camp in Syria where many of the refugees are housed.“The camp has been reported as highly unsafe for both women and children. Gunfire and malnutrition are commonplace,” they said.

They claimed that the Ministry of National Security and the Ministry of Foreign and Caricom Affairs could easily facilitate their repatriations using diplomacy.

They gave Hinds 30 days in which to respond to the proposed lawsuit before filing it.