Close to 30 Guyanese residing in Trinidad illegally were on Wednesday rounded-up and have been given deadlines by which they must leave that country.

The move comes in the midst of heightened debate on a new immigration policy announced by the David Thompson administration in Barbados, which has since been marred by complaints of raids and unjust treatment being meted out to Guyanese in particular. The policy is intended to target undocumented Caricom nationals, spurring concerns about the profiling of nationals from these countries.

However, according to reports out of Trinidad, the illegal Guyanese who were rounded-up in that country have received fair treatment. Individual cases have been determined and deadlines granted accordingly.

Guyana’s Honorary Consul to Trinidad and Tobago Ernie Ross confirmed the activity. On investigating, Consular Officer Denise Deano learnt that the police had swooped down at a tenement yard in Tunapuna where the group was discovered.

Speaking to this newspaper from her St Clair, Port of Spain office yesterday, Deano said the police had gone to the Tunapuna tenement on Wednesday to investigate an unrelated matter and found a large number of Guyanese there. She related that the Guyanese were all discovered to be in T&T illegally, having overstayed their time, but each of them was granted due consideration.

She told Stabroek News that no one rule was applied to the individuals. Many, she said, were either married to Trinidadians or have children born on the island. Some have been given time to collect their salaries and then return home.

Deano said after the discovery of the group of illegal Guyanese, the consulate was contacted and representation was made for each person.

“So they have time to sort out their stuff, but all of them will have to leave. Those married to Trinidadians and with children born here will have to then re-enter and make the appropriate application upon re-entry,” she explained.

Pregnant women among the group have been granted enough time by the authorities to give birth, look into documentation for their babies and then return home.

Deano said many asked for and were granted time to collect salaries from their places of employ and soon after, are to return home.

She stressed that the T&T immigration authorities did not conduct a raid, but added that the police would not come across undocumented immigrants and just leave them.

However, she said, the Guyanese were thankful for the understanding showed by the immigration department, especially since none of them was detained. Questioned on whether there seemed to be a heightened interest in illegal immigrants since the Barbados issue, Deano said this was not the case.

With the implementation of the Single Market component on the Caricom Single Market and Economy it was agreed among Heads of Government that five categories of persons would be allowed to live and work freely in sister states without a work permit. However, persons qualified under one of the categories would have to apply for a Caricom skills certificate in their home country and on this basis be granted extended stay in another Caricom country.

Many of the persons who migrate often do not qualify and so overstay their allotted times and become undocumented immigrants.

Despite calls by some member states for the categories to be extended to include teachers and nurses, others have had reservations resulting in no consensus with the proposals.