TTSSCARBOROUGH

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Coast Guard killed baby when shooting on migrant boat

37 Venezuelan migrants were detained during an operation that led to the shooting death of a one-year-old boy after the TTS 'Scarborough' detected a vessel crossing waters from Venezuela towards the south coast of Trinidad-Tobago in the night of Feb 5, 2022. The Coast Guard reported that they tried to get the vessel to stop several times using an air horn, searchlight and flares, without success. Warning shots were also fired but the vessel continued to try to evade capture. The Coast Guard said the vessel tried to ram a smaller boat deployed by the TTS 'Scarborough' several times, causing the officers to fire shots at the boat's engine to disable it. The Coast Guard said,the vessel eventually stopped and only then it was discovered that there were illegal migrants on board who had remained hidden. A woman and her child were shot during the incident. The child, identified as Ya Elvis Santoyo, died in his mother's arms. The mother was later taken to the hospital. The migrants detained aboard the vessel were taken to the Chaguaramas Heliport where they remained on Feb 9. The attorneys Criston J Williams and Siddiq Manzano said, after interviewing three of the migrants aboard the vessel there were key differences in their version of events and the Coast Guard's report. Contrary to the initial report, the migrants denied that they attempted to ram one of the Coast Guard's boats, and claimed a faulty engine prevented them from trying to escape. They said the boat they were travelling had two engines and one of the engines kept stopping and coming back on. The first Coast Guard vessel they saw was the smaller boat. At that point they didn't hear any horn or loud hailer from this vessel. They did see the flares, one of which they said was pointed to the sky, the other one was aimed at their boat. Shortly after that, they heard the gunshots. They said the Coast Guard only stopped shooting after they realised someone aboard their boat was wounded. Because of the faulty engine they said they couldn't ram anyone or even try to escape, for that matter, so at that point they were stationary. The migrants were taken aboard the TTS 'Scarborough' and brought to shore, where the wounded woman was taken to a hospital. The group of migrants, which consists of 20 children and 17 adults, were taken to the Chaguaramas Heliport in the morning of Feb 6, where they remained. Several of the children were unwell and vomiting. Manzano and Williams intended to write a letter to the Minister of National Security, the Chief Immigration Officer and the local arm of the UN Refugee Agency, seeking refugee status for the migrants. Report with photo: https://trinidadexpress.com/news/local/what-have-you-done-with-my-baby/article_e62254a0-8949-11ec-b605-2f66ff566f8a.html

43 migrants intercepted off Trinidad

The TTS Scarborough' on Dec 27, 2021, at around 12.05 a.m. detected a boat approaching the border on the southern coast of Trinidad. It chased the boat before eventually intercepting it near Palo Seco. 20 Venezuelans were found and detained. At 12.36 p.m. a Trinidad registered pirogue was detected crossing the border near Chacachacare island. It was also intercepted and 23 Venezuelans found aboard. Both groups of migrants were taken to Trinidad and processed with assistance from the Immigration Division and the Venezuelan Embassy. They were repatriated in the morning.