Trinidad faces refugee crisis
Domestic violence survivors
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vessel with more than 20
Venezuelan refugees had
gone down in the border
waters between the two
nations but searches of
the area have turned up
no evidence of an accident
at sea said Minister of
Security, Stuart Young.
Now reports are beginning
to surface about a
new problem in the seven
mile stretch between
Trinidad and Venezuela.
Local media say that
police are now being asked
to zero in on the possibility
that the vessel might
not have vanished after
all but that human trafficking
gangs might have
intercepted the boat with
its human cargo of mostly
women for the purposes
of human trafficking and
prostitution.
Young said the coastguard
have scoured the
areas for hours on end
and have found absolutely
no evidence of any mishap
at sea
“To date the TT coast
guard has found absolutely
no evidence of any vessel
being sunk or anybody
being on such a vessel
in the water or anything
being associated with a
vessel in the water. They
have been in contact with
their colleagues from the
Venezuelan authorities,
who are also conducting
patrols, and at this
stage have found nothing
either. We stand ready to
assist in any way that they
can” the minister said.
But local newspapers
are beginning to urge
authorities to talk to relatives
of passengers who
have boarded boats in
Venezuela, alerted family
in Trinidad of their
estimated times of arrival
and never made it to
any coastal Trinidadian
port.
The Guardian reported
on the case of university
student Kelly Zambrano
who never made it to the
island last week even after
telling relatives that she
was aboard and about to
sail.T
he latest incidents
about activities on the
high seas come amid
reports that several such
vessels have disappeared
off Venezuela in recent
weeks. The relatives say
that days after these vessels
‘disappeared’ male
passengers and crew turn
up alive but the women
are never seen again.
To add some credence
to these allegations,
police in southwestern
Trinidad this week search
several camps in the hilly
Los Iros area for alleged
sex camps where women
were reportedly paid
about $60.00 per hour
to work as prostitutes or
sex slaves. No evidence
was found but this is just
the latest example of the
multifaceted nature of
policing associated with
Trinidad’s Venezuelan
refugee crisis officials
say. The vessel with the
more than 20 persons
aboard is alleged to have
left northeastern Guiria
State last Thursday but
no one can verify if there
was ever such a journey
or what might have happened
to the pirogue.
Continued from Page 1
enced by their abuse at
the time of the offense.
The Act also adds the
option of communitybased
alternative-to
incarceration programs
and gives eligible survivors
currently in prison
the opportunity to
apply for resentencing,
the Guyanese-born Persaud
said.
Currently, she said
the state’s criminal
justice system does
not allow judges’ discretion
in taking into
account the impact of
domestic violence when
determining sentence
lengths.
In 1995, Persaud said
this was addressed with
the Sentencing Reform
Act, commonly known
as “Jenna’s Law,” “but
New York barely saw it
reflected in sentences
to this day.”
In 2007, Persaud
noted that the New
York State Sentencing
Commission suggested
Jenna’s Law be replaced
with a provision that
properly imposes condensed
sentences in
cases involving domestic
violence.
The first version of the
DVSJA was introduced
in 2011 and its current
version in 2015. Persaud
said she has sponsored
the bill since 2017.
“Too often, survivors
of domestic violence are
punished by our criminal
justice system for
defending themselves or
their family, leading to
unjustified prison sentences,”
Persaud said.
“These brave survivors
deserve support and the
ability to rebuild their
lives instead of being
unfairly incarcerated.
“The Domestic Violence
Survivors Justice
Act will finally right this
wrong, which is why
I staunchly fought for
and sponsored this bill,”
she added. “I applaud
Gov. Cuomo for signing
it into law today.”
Beyond relieving
countless wrongfully
incarcerated men and
women — 9 out of 10
of whom have been
physically or sexual
abused and who usually
have no prior criminal
records or history of
violence and extremely
low recidivism rates —
Persaud said New York
would also save taxpayers
tens of thousands of
dollars every year under
this legislation.
It costs about $43,000
per year to incarcerate a
person in state prison,
while the alternative
— community-based
programs — amount to
around $11,000 in New
York City, Persaud said.
Additionally, she said
these programs prove
to be far more effective
than prison by allowing
survivors to participate
in their communities,
heal and remain close
with their families,
especially if they have
children.
Persaud noted that
the legislation is a key
initiative of Cuomo’s
2019 Women’s Justice
Agenda.
Continued from Page 1