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Trinidadian Olympian released on bail after being charged with gun and drug charges

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Caribbean News Service

Olympian Njisane Phillip will return to court on April 24 after being granted TT$300,000 (One TT dollar=US$ 0.16 cents) bail on firearm and drug-related charges.

Phillip, 31, appeared virtually before Senior Magistrate Armina Deonarinesingh in the San Fernando Court on three charges, including possession of a firearm, possession of ammunition and possession of marijuana.

He was ordered to surrender both his Trinidad and Tobago and United States passports and to report to a police station every Wednesday.

Njisane Phillip, a two-time Olympic cyclist, was arrested on Saturday evening after police pulled over his vehicle for allegedly speeding along the Solomon Hochoy Highway. Media reports said that while he was being questioned by the police, the officers got a strong scent of marijuana coming from his vehicle.

The officers searched the vehicle and allegedly found 62 grams of marijuana and a firearm with a magazine containing four rounds of 9 mm ammunition.

He was arrested and later charged.

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Jamaican farmers urged to guard against the TR4 Disease

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Caribbean News Service

The Banana Board is urging Jamaican farmers to implement measures to protect their holdings against the TR4 disease even though the disease has not yet been detected in any Caribbean country.

TR4 disease, which is also known as Fusarium odoratissimum, is a threat to commercial varieties of the local banana, plantain, and ornamental Heliconia crops.

“It is not in Jamaica and it is not yet in the Caribbean but in 2019 it came to South America to Colombia and it stayed there for a while. In 2021, it moved from Colombia to Peru and in January 2023, just two months ago, it jumped into Venezuela,” said Banana Board general manager, Janet Conie.

She said that the disease has the real danger or potential to wipe out the entire industry and that the TR4 is a soil-borne fungal disease that can stay in the soil for 30 years for which there is no cure and no resistant commercial varieties.

“What we need to do is to keep it out. What happens when it comes is that it spreads in the soil, in water, on tools and equipment, and by people moving. We are very concerned that it is in Venezuela because the traffic between Venezuela and Trinidad is real and the traffic between Jamaica and Trinidad is very real,” she added.

With the potential effects of the TR4, farmers are being encouraged to ramp up border security, farm biosecurity, as well as diagnostic and surveillance measures, which are critical to preventing the spread of the disease.

“We are motivating our farmers to secure their farms in Jamaica. We are telling them to fence them and put footpaths for persons that come on the farms, that they walk in these footpaths and to disinfect their shoes,” Mrs. Conie said, noting that the Banana Board is also encouraging Jamaicans who travel to be mindful of their movements in countries where the TR4 is present.

“Anybody can bring it in if they are unaware of what they do. If you go to a South American country now, into a banana field, we ask you not to bring your clothes and shoes back, because you may bring it inadvertently,” Mrs. Conie said.

So far, the Banana Board has been working to strengthen the industry against the threat of the disease.

“We have been preparing. We have varieties that are not so commercial but are fairly resistant and we have been multiplying those in Jamaica, so we have something for food security should we be affected,” she added.

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US increases visa processing fees for Caribbean visitors

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Caribbean News Service

The United States Department of State on Tuesday published a Final Rule regarding increases to certain non-immigrant visa application (NIV) processing fees for Caribbean and other visitors.

The increases, published Tuesday in the US Federal Register, will become effective on May 30, 2023.

The State Department said the fee for visitor visas for business or tourism (B1/B2s and BCCs), and other non-petition-based NIVs, such as student and exchange visitor visas, will increase from US$160 to US$185.

The fee for certain petition-based non-immigrant visas for temporary workers (H, L, O, P, Q, and R categories) will increase from US$190 to US$205, the State Department said, adding that the fee for a treaty trader, treaty investor and treaty applicants in a specialty occupation (E category) will increase from US$205 to US$315.

“NIV fees are set based on the actual cost of providing NIV services and are determined after conducting a study of the cost of these services,” said the State Department, noting that it uses an Activity-Based Costing (ABC) methodology to calculate, annually, the cost of providing consular services, including visa services.

The fees for most non-petition-based NIVs were last updated in 2012, and certain other NIV fees were last updated in 2014.

The State Department said other consular fees are not affected by this rule, including the waiver of the two-year residency required fee for certain exchange visitors.

“Visas for work and tourism are essential to President Biden’s foreign policy, and we recognize the critical role international travel plays in the US economy,” it said, adding “the Department of State is committed to facilitating legitimate travel to the United States for both immigrant and non-immigrant travelers.”

The State Department also said that the increased fees affect the Border Crossing Card (BCC) for Mexican citizens age 15 and over.

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Three dead, 16 missing after boat from Antigua capsizes near St. Kitts

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Caribbean News Service

Three people died and 13 are missing after a boat capsized near the eastern Caribbean island of St Kitts early Tuesday, authorities said.

The boat was carrying 32 passengers, 16 of whom were rescued, according to the government’s Antigua and Barbuda Broadcasting Services.

Officials in St. Kitts are leading the search and said the majority of those rescued are from unidentified countries in Africa. It was not immediately clear where the people who died were from.

The boat sank about 40 miles (60 kilometers) northwest of Antigua. It was not immediately clear where it was headed, Col. Telbert Benjamin, chief of defense for Antigua and Barbuda’s Defense Force, told the government’s media outlet.

“The vessel went down in relatively deep water, and so recovery … might be a bit of a challenge,” Benjamin said.

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Major climate diplomacy breakthrough as UN General Assembly adopts resolution on advisory opinion on climate change

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Caribbean News Service

Today the UN General Assembly adopted a resolution by consensus seeking an advisory opinion on climate change and human rights from the International Court of Justice (ICJ).This is a milestone moment in a campaign launched over two years ago by the Pacific Island Students Fighting Climate Change (PISFCC), in a law school classroom in Vanuatu.

It was taken forward as a diplomatic endeavor by the Government of Vanuatu who worked alongside 18 nations on preparing the first draft and ultimately won the backing of over 120 countries before it was tabled in the UN today.

An advisory opinion from the ICJ will provide clarity to States on their obligations under international law to protect citizens, now and in the future, from the harms of climate impacts and their responsibility in upholding fundamental human rights.While non-binding in nature, it will add weight to efforts to hold governments accountable on climate promises and in climate negotiations in multilateral fora. It can be cited as an important precedent in climate litigation.

Today’s win is a significant diplomatic moment for Vanuatu and Pacific Island nations who have long championed the need for a Loss and Damage fund – which came to fruition at COP27- and more recently backed a six-nation Pacific region call for a global phaseout of fossil fuels and a Fossil Fuel Non-Proliferation Treaty.The resolution will now reach the International Court of Justice to deliver an advisory opinion, which will be a first for the Court on the issue of climate change.

“This is not a silver bullet but it can make an important contribution to climate action. The world is at a crossroads and we as the international community have the obligation to take greater action. Together we can send a loud and clear message into the future that on this very day the people of the United Nations acting through their governments decided to leave behind their differences and act together to tackle the challenge of climate change,” said H.E. Ishmael Kalsakau, Prime Minister of Vanuatu, as he proposed the draft resolution at the UN today.

Reactions from civil society

“Today’s adoption in the UN of the resolution to seek an advisory opinion on climate change from the International Court of Justice by consensus by countries is a truly historic moment in our quest for stronger accountability and actions from governments in addressing climate change. This moment has been long in the making. What started as a campaign by Pacific Island students in a law school classroom, and then taken forward by the government of Vanuatu, is now set to go to the world’s highest court.This is a huge diplomatic success by Vanuatu and Pacific Island nations and another powerful example of how civil society and governments can work together to achieve success, as was also demonstrated by the agreement on the Loss and Damage Fund. We look forward to supporting the efforts to get clarity and seek justice through the ICJ on the obligations of States towards their citizens in the protection from climate change, now and in the future.”– Tasneem Essop, Executive Director, Climate Action Network International

“Today’s outcome is a win for people and communities across the world that are at the frontlines of the climate crisis. The Pacific has again exemplified that despite the threats of this existential crisis, we are resolute in our efforts to effectively and urgently ratchet up climate ambition, seeking avenues to protect the rights of those most vulnerable, including future generations, and uphold the principles of intergenerational equity. The work has only just begun, and the road to The Hague requires everyone to push their Governments to make submissions that highlight the clear linkages between the climate crisis and human rights when called on by the Court.” – Lavetanalagi Seru, Regional Policy Coordinator, Pacific Islands Climate Action Network

“The milestone reached today affirms the power of community-driven, people-centered campaigns for climate justice and accountability. This resolution marks a momentous step toward clarifying what existing law requires states to do to curb climate change and protect human rights. The International Court of Justice can translate the clear scientific evidence that fossil fuels are driving the climate crisis into clear legal imperatives to phase them out now and implement proven, available solutions. It also can – and indeed must – hold states accountable for the mounting suffering caused by their failure to act.” – Nikki Reisch, Director of CIEL’s Climate and Energy Program

“Today’s UNGA resolution is an important landmark in the campaign for the International Court of Justice Advisory Opinion on climate change and human rights led by the Pacific Islands Students Fighting Climate Change and the civil society of Pacific nations. An advisory opinion from the world’s highest court will cement consensus on the scientific evidence of climate change, the impetus for more ambitious action under the Paris Agreement and a roadmap for international cooperation and assistance to combat the impacts of climate change on the world’s most vulnerable nations.” – Sanjay Vashist, Director, Climate Action Network South Asia (CANSA)

“Climate lawsuits are booming in Europe at the moment, and an advisory opinion from the International Court of Justice could trigger even more cases, and should also carry weight and help national and European courts’ reasoning when deciding on climate change cases”.– Romain Didi, Climate Governance and Human Rights Policy Expert, Climate Action Network (CAN) Europe

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8 Caribbean countries take part in mission to know public school feeding policy in the Dominican Republic

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Caribbean News Service

Representatives from 10 Latin American and Caribbean countries took part in an international technical mission in the Dominican Republic from March 13 to 17, organized by the trilateral south-south cooperation project Consolidation of School Feeding Programmes in LAC, carried out by the Brazil-FAO International Cooperation.

The objective of the mission was to promote the exchange of experiences and good practices to strengthen the public policy on school feeding in the region, as well as conclude the second stage of a course on school feeding for participants from the Caribbean countries. Due to that, theoretical contents were presented and field activities were developed during the five days.

The mission was made up of managers and technicians from school feeding programmes from the Ministries of Education, Agriculture and Health of Belize, Brazil, Bahamas, Chile, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines and Trinidad and Tobago.

The school feeding project is part of the actions of the Brazil-FAO International Cooperation Programme. It is developed jointly by the Brazilian Cooperation Agency of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (ABC/MRE), the National Fund for Educational Development of the Ministry of Education (FNDE/MEC), and the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO).

The mission also concluded the second stage of the training School Feeding Programmes and Food and Nutrition Education – carried out by the Brazil-FAO Cooperation – with participants from Belize, Bahamas, Guyana, Jamaica, Saint Lucia, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, and Trinidad and Tobago. The first phase occurred in 2020 and could not be finished until now due to the COVID-19 pandemic.

The activity generated a space for theoretical and experiential learning, promoting a meeting among the Caribbean countries that are working on improving the quality of their school feeding programmes. A strong focus on food and nutrition education was highlighted in this activity. “Being able to share good experiences and think about joint solutions was enriching for all the participants and created beneficial professional relationships to continue this work,” said Gabriela Ayon Chang, course facilitator.

School and field experiences

During the five-day mission, participants visited schools and a family farmers’ cooperative, which allowed them to talk with school feeding authorities and technicians, fathers and mothers, teachers, students, as well as producers involved in the provision of local food, among other actors.

During the visits, it was clear the involvement of the community around the school, the use of school gardens as pedagogical tools, the importance of the school’s infrastructure, a healthy menu and the public purchases from family farming.

Participants were also introduced to the implementation of Dominican’s School Feeding Programme, developed by the National Institute for Student Welfare (INABIE). With the Brazilian participants of the FNDE, they also could learn about progress, challenges, concepts, guidelines, legal frameworks, objectives, and implementation of the school feeding policy at different levels of government (federal, state, and municipal).

Opinions

“I saw here a glimpse of the future into what is possible mainly in terms of having people from the community having ownership and being a part of the process within the schools. So I see that as something that we can bring back locally and try to implement”, said Latoya Smith, coordinator of school feeding from the FAO office in Trinidad and Tobago.

“We were able to see the impact of school feeding in the field, in dialogue with students and family farmers,” said Mahendra Phaghwah, breakfast programme’s coordinator of Guyana’s Ministry of Education. “School feeding does not discriminate and it is not a vulnerability programme, school feeding is for all”.

For Bertland Bates, from the Jamaican Ministry of Agriculture, the experience of involving family farming in school feeding and the infrastructure of schools to offer food were the topics that most caught his attention.

The coordinator of the school feeding project of the Brazil-FAO International Cooperation, Najla Veloso, assessed that the mission promoted a space for dialogue and exchange among the Caribbean countries. “It was an occasion to call on sister countries to think together about how we can build a better continent and a better world, where all students eat, learn and improve their health conditions, moving the regional food chain with family farming. It was possible to understand that it is possible to do this policy better and better, how we do it in Brazil and how the Dominican Republic is doing”.

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Dominica’s Government urges Dominicans to educate themselves on crypto-currency sector

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Caribbean News Service

Dominica’s Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit on Monday brushed aside suggestions that the island could come under severe scrutiny after the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) charged the founder of the blockchain company, TRON, Justin Sun with fraud and securities violations.

Skerrit told a news conference that young Dominicans should instead explore the opportunities made available through the crypto-currency sector and that neither he nor his government could be held responsible for people’s behavior after they had been legitimately in touch with his administration.

“We in Dominica we have to move away from this attitude that we c believe could bring Dominica down …we celebrating it,” he said, adding “there is absolutely no involvement of the government in this whatsoever”.

Roseau had recently entered into an agreement with TRON in what had been described as “the highest level of cooperation between such an enterprise and a sovereign state.”

Roosevelt Skerrit insisted that there is no “regret at all” in a meeting with Sun, adding “we signed an MOU and that was it.

“There is no regret or disappointment…what somebody is involved in their past or future years has no bearings on us. There are Dominicans who go to the United States and receive a Green Card and they get deported back to Dominica because they found themselves in difficulties with the law.”

“I mean do you blame the Green Card system…or the citizenship process of America or do you blame us. NO everyone must stand on their own two feet…and we are not questioning what the SEC has done…”

Last week, in a statement, the SEC unveiled charges against Sun for fraud and securities violations and that it was also charging three companies owned by Sun, “Tron Foundation Limited, BitTorrent Foundation Ltd., and Rainberry Inc. (formerly BitTorrent), for the unregistered offer and sale of crypto asset securities Tronix (TRX) and BitTorrent (BTT).”

“The SEC also charged Sun and his companies with fraudulently manipulating the secondary market for TRX through extensive wash trading, which involves the simultaneous or near-simultaneous purchase and sale of a security to make it appear actively traded without an actual change in beneficial ownership, and for orchestrating a scheme to pay celebrities to tout TRX and BTT without disclosing their compensation,” the statement said.

Skerrit told reporters that the issue of bit coin, crypto currency “is a global phenomena now” and because it is now regulated by central banks yet” there is an issue of proper regulation.

“But this is a global phenomenon and I think it is important that countries like ours, we are to look at the opportunities that these things could provide for our young…people looking for opportunities for higher pay and for better standards of living for themselves.”

He said Dominica can ill-afford to allow the global community to runaway with the crypto-currency sector “and then we trying to 20 years later try to do what many countries have done.

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Trinidad’s Finance minister says no to devaluation and going to IMF

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Caribbean News Service

The Trinidad and Tobago government on Monday said it has no intention of devaluing the local currency arguing that it would lead to increased inflation and “an immediate increase in imported goods.

In addition, Finance Minister Colm Imbert said that the seven-year-old Keith Rowley administration has no intention of going to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for assistance to further boost the economy.

Speaking at a news conference on issues arising from the IMF’s 2023 Article 1V review related last week, Imbert told reporters that any devaluation of the local currency would present hardship for the population.

From 1972 to 1976, the Trinidad and Tobago dollar was floated against the British pound sterling, however after 1976,it was pegged to the United States dollar. The first major depreciation of the Trinidad and Tobago dollar since June 1976 occurred in December 1985, when the country’s currency was devalued 50 per cent against the United States dollar.

In its latest report, the Washington-based financial institution said that it was encouraging the authorities here to continue “maintaining sound and consistent policies to support the current exchange rate arrangement.

“The Central Bank of Trinidad and Tobago (CBTT) has maintained its repo rate at 3.5 per cent since March 2020 to support the recovery of the economy. Increasing the policy rate should be seriously considered to contain inflationary pressures and narrow the negative interest rate differentials with the U.S. monetary policy rate,” the IMF said, adding “this would also help mitigate potential risks of capital outflows and reduce incentives for excessive risk taking that could threaten financial stability”.

Imbert told reporters that if for example the local currency had to be devalued at a rate of 10 to One “which would be a 50 per cent devaluation or a 40 per cent devaluation, you would have an immediate increase in the cost of imported goods and you would have immediate demands from the labour unions, which would be very difficult to challenge, for increased wages.

“This in itself would have…a domino effect on inflation,” he said, adding ” I think any serious person would know that if we devalue the dollar there would be significant inflation and it would send our people into poverty.

“I don’t think you need to do the maths for that, but if you would like me to do a mathematical calculation as to what the estimated inflation would be if we did a devaluation of the dollar by 40 or 50 per cent, I will ask the Central bank (of Trinidad and Tobago) to do that for me….”

Imbert maintained that “you don’t have to be a rocket scientist to figure out if you devalue the dollar significantly because we have a high import bill, because so many manufactured goods come from abroad, so much of our food comes from abroad and also you would have demands from the labour unions that there will be an inflationary increase that will be unsustainable. I don’t think we need to debate this point”.

The Finance Minister said that the government does not want to get into an IMF programme, given especially that the IMF is the lender of last resort.

“Countries go to the IMF when they can’t borrow from anybody else…so when they have nowhere else to turn, nobody will lend them money to balance their budgets and it is also a country in distress whenever a country goes to the IMF.”

He said countries with a “currency crisis” also go to the IMF, but in the case of Trinidad with an import cover of eight months Port of Spain does not have the problem of countries with at least one month or even a week cover.

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Trinidad’s CCJ and CARICOM Secretariat formalize MOU

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Caribbean News Service

The Trinidad-based Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Guyana-based Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Secretariat aimed at improving access and delivery of justice in the Caribbean region.

The agreement formalizes the partnership between the two regional institutions to execute several justice and legal sector projects funded by the European Union’s 11th European Development Fund (EDF).

The Secretariat will provide procurement support to the CCJ in the execution of several projects which form part of a larger project which also comprises work to benefit the Caribbean Community Administrative Tribunal (CCAT) and the Council of Legal Education (CLE). Implementing these projects is expected to have a transformative effect on justice delivery in the region.

The CCJ said that some of the more specific outcomes include a region-wide public education campaign to raise awareness of the Court’s Original Jurisdiction (OJ) which plays a critical role in the Caribbean Single Market and Economy (CSME) and protects the freedom of movement of people, goods, services, capital, labor, skills, and establishment guaranteed under the CSME.

In addition, the CCJ will also sensitize judicial officers and attorneys on the Court’s referral process so that national judiciaries are aware of their obligation to send issues concerning the rights under the CSME to the CCJ for judgment, when necessary.

The CCJ said that it is anticipated that increased knowledge of provisions under the Revised Treaty of Chaguaramas, which governs the regional integration movement, and avenues for redress will empower regional citizens to capitalize on their rights provided by the Treaty.

It said that the grant would also be used to upgrade the information and communication technology infrastructure in the CCJ courtroom to enhance the court user experience for litigants and attorneys.

CCAT, an impartial and independent judicial body responsible for hearing and delivering judgments on employment disputes from CARICOM institutions will also benefit from funds received under this grant,” the CCJ said in a statement.

“The Tribunal is a long-awaited development for employees of these organizations, as CARICOM institutions enjoy immunity from lawsuits brought in national courts and so, for many years employees did not have an avenue to challenge the legality of employment decisions.”

The CCJ said that through the revision of the legal education curriculum for the regional law schools under the CLE’s management, law students will also indirectly benefit from this EDF grant. The curriculum must be up to date to meet the emerging legal needs and trends within the Caribbean since most practicing attorneys in the region are matriculated by these law schools.

“It is anticipated that this collaboration will further strengthen the relationship between and among the various CARICOM institutions and the European Union,” the CCJ said, adding that it “welcomes this partnership and looks forward to the mutually rewarding benefits”.

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Boat capsizes off St Kitts: One dead, 15 rescued alive, and search on for 16 missing persons, most said to be West Africans

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Black Immigrant Daily News

The content originally appeared on: Caribbean News Service

A boat from Antigua capsized off the coast of St. Kitts, leaving one person dead, while 15 others were rescued from the choppy waters. Fourteen of these 16 persons are Africans.

Reports say the St. Kitts Coast Guard is now engaged in a desperate search for the other 16 persons who had been onboard.

It is said that the 30-foot vessel encountered difficulty some 12 miles east of St. Kitts, and a mayday alert went out sometime on Monday night, March 27.

Reports say it was a passing luxury sailboat that initially spotted the distressed vessel and lent immediate help to those persons holding onto the hull to keep afloat and battling the rough waves.

Other vessels have since joined the St. Kitts Coast Guard in the search for survivors, reports add. Coast Guard officials here have confirmed the development and say they are monitoring the unfortunate situation.

While some reports say the capsized vessel set out from Urlings, other sources tell REAL News that the boat – alleged to be The Osprey – is usually docked at the West Bus Station Fisheries Wharf and is owned by a national of the Dominican Republic.

There is speculation that the vessel – which carries two outboard engines – was on its way to St. Thomas in the United States Virgin Islands and was precariously overcrowded.

Late last year, hundreds of West Africans were brought to Antigua on chartered flights. Most were expecting to move on to other destinations and, ultimately, get to the United States.

However, this did not work out according to plan, and many residents were forced to conclude that Antigua had been used as a transshipment point in a migrant-trafficking ring.

Some of the West Africans left the country and actually made it to other Caribbean islands – only to be returned here.

Meanwhile, Sean Bird, the United Progressive Party (UPP) caretaker for St. John’s Rural East, has expressed grief about the development and is hoping that no more lives will be lost.

But Bird says he is not surprised that the West Africans would have made such a dangerous attempt to leave Antigua, since they desperately want to get to the United States for better opportunities.

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