Through our back channels we received the following letter. I think it is unlikely this will appear in lamestream media.
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Dear Sir,
I have to tell you that for the fifth time in the last five years, I am totally ashamed to be a citizen of Trinidad & Tobago. It matters not that I reside in England.
When I read about the treatment of several Venezuelan children - one just 4 months old - I felt sick. I couldn’t have cared less if they were immigrants, asylum seekers or illegal.
Boss, ah cyah express mehself if ah doh talk in Trini. Ah vex! Give meh a lil space as I dispense with dee Queen’s English.
Yuh doh treat people soooo! Yuh do not treat helpless children in dat way - throw dem on a fishing boat and set dem out on rough seas. Ah mean who was jumping out to save dee four-month old if s/he fell into dee ocean! Dis ting is pure nonsense! No man - I eh having it! I couldn’t believe meh eyes when I viewed photographs of some fella holding dee four-month old up, coming off dee fishing boat in high water.
Right - code-switching back - the children were treated in a cruel, inhumane and unusual way. It is utterly ridiculous for Stuart Young to pull some verbal sleight of hand, arguing that they were ‘escorted’ and not ‘deported’. He is a lawyer, so what? Mr Young, does the law and politics rob you of your ability to feel shame? I have to wonder. In England we saw similar legal sleight of hand by Dominic Cummings (the Prime Minister’s chief adviser) trying to justify breaking COVID-19 restrictions to argue that when his eyesight was failing, he had to take a drive to a castle to test out his eyesight. The whole of the UK was totally flabbergasted at the audacity of such an idiotic explanation, and soon the memes told of the outrage of the UK.
The children - whether illegal or not - whether citizens or not - have several rights protected by the Constitution of Trinidad & Tobago, and several Treaties to which T&T has signed up to. So, how can Stuart Young pull some argument to justify what happened? He can’t and his cerebral diarrhoea is ill-becoming a Minister of National Security with the overall responsibility for this matter. The buck stops with him. He would be making a bigger fool of himself if he continues along his chosen line. But, he doesn’t seem to care. He must have skin like crapaud leather.
The State of Trinidad & Tobago has to take responsibility for the prima facie breach of the Venezuelan children’s rights! Mr Young, take my advice: do the honourable thing; apologise to these children now, and cough up some generous compensation along with a commitment to respect their rights! No delay.
Yours Sincerely
Dr Russell D. Lutchman MRCPsych LLB(Hons) DipMgmnt CertSocSci HRD(Amnesty Intn'l) Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist in the UK.
