Latest update November 8th, 2024 12:15 AM
Deported Guyanese allowed to re-enter T&T with medically ill son
A Guyanese woman who was expelled from the sister Caricom nation of Trinidad and Tobago in late October with her two-year-old Trinidadian born son has been finally accepted back into the island.
Rosinda Nicholson and her son had returned to the island yesterday and after a brief hold-up at Piarco International Airport, they were finally allowed entry on humanitarian grounds.
Rosinda Nicholson and her son are back in Trinidad.
Nicholson, who admitted that she had been previously living illegally in the country for almost five years, claimed that her son, who was born in Trinidad, is in need of medical treatment.
She was sent back to Guyana on her attempt to re-enter the twin island republic after returning home for a short stay.
The Trinidadian authorities had insisted that the woman was not deported, and that it was simply a case of “Voluntary Departure” since Nicholson was not able to prove her means of support for her stay in Trinidad. But Nicholson refuted the claim, stating that her brother and sister were willing to provide her with support during her stay on the island.
Her case was first highlighted by the Trinidad Express and had the potential of bringing into question the free movement of Caricom Nationals across the Region.
Nicholson received no assistance from the local authorities and she subsequently appealed to social activist Mark Benschop for assistance. Benschop had contacted the authorities in Trinidad and was given assurances that Nicholson’s case would be actively reviewed on humanitarian grounds.
However, when weeks passed and there was no word from the Trinidadian authorities, Nicholson was advised to book a flight and head back to Trinidad. She did so yesterday morning.
But upon arrival in Trinidad, immigration authorities quickly detained her and her son.
They were placed on a bench and ordered to be sent back on the next flight to Guyana.
Contact was made with Benschop again and he quickly made contact with the Trinidadian authorities via emails and asked them to intervene and allow Ms. Nicholson to re-enter the Island with her son, on humanitarian grounds.
According to Benschop, he received favourable replies from the Office of the Prime Minister of Trinidad and Tobago and the island’s National Security Minister.
Later yesterday, Nicholson and her son were allowed entry back into Trinidad.
In a subsequent telephone conversation Nicholson told Benschop that she was very pleased about the decision and thanked the Trinidadian authorities.
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