By Aarushi Gupta

On Feb. 28, Human Rights Watch launched its new report, “Trinidad and Tobago: Bring Home Nationals from Northeast Syria,” during a press conference in Port of Spain, Trinidad.

The report finds that approximately 100 nationals of Trinidad & Tobago, including at least 56 children, are unlawfully detained in inhumane conditions in Northeast Syria. These individuals have been labeled Islamic State group (ISIS) suspects, or family members of suspects, by United States-backed, Kurdish-led regional forces.

To produce this report, Human Rights Watch visited these detention camps and interviewed Trinidadian detainees and their family members.

They found the conditions in these camps to be cruel and degrading. Child detainees face additional risks, including a lack of food, educational facilities, medical supplies and shelter. Most disturbing, cases of children getting hit and killed by water trucks, dying in tent fires, drowning in sewage pits, or dying from treatable diseases have been recorded.

While the Government of Trinidad & Tobago cited “security concerns” as the reason for not taking steps to repatriate and integrate detainees, at least 36 countries, such as the United States and Barbados, have repatriated their nationals in similar situations.

The report calls on the government of Trinidad & Tobago to “show leadership” and promptly repatriate its nationals – starting with women and children. It also calls for societal reintegration.

Human Rights Watch research on the experience of repatriated children finds that 89% of respondents, including parents, teachers and social workers, stated that repatriated children in their care are “doing very well” or “quite well.”

The conference was attended by local television stations, news outlets and the families of the Trinidadian detainees. It was moderated by Sterling Henderson, Deputy Head of News at Gem Radio Five. Letta Tayler, Associate Director of Crisis and Conflict at Human Rights Watch, and Jo Becker, Children’s Rights Advocacy Director at Human Rights Watch, jointly presented the findings of the report.

Becker is an Adjunct Associate Professor at Columbia University’s School of International and Public Affairs (SIPA), where she teaches Human Rights Skills and Advocacy.

In a comment to The Morningside Post, Becker said “Dozens of other countries have repatriated some or many of their nationals, yet the government of Trinidad & Tobago has done almost nothing to help its nationals return home. For every day that goes by, dozens of children, many very young, suffer because of their parent’s decisions. These children never chose to live under ISIS. The government should act now to bring them home.”

Aarushi Gupta (MIA ‘24) is a menstrual health and reproductive rights activist studying Human Rights Policy. Currently, she is campaigning for free period products in all washrooms at SIPA.