Trinidad and Tobago

We, the undersigned organizations working on Trinidad and Tobago and Venezuela, recognize the difficult situation of all governments as they respond to the public health crisis posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. We write to you, however, to express our deep concern about the reported deportation on 18 September of 93 Venezuelans, who were sent back to the grave human rights and humanitarian emergency that they were fleeing. The deportation of asylum seekers runs counter to the basic international law principle of non-refoulment.