T&T students at Cave Hill plead for a response from authorities in Port of Spain

More than a dozen Trinidad and Tobago nationals who are studying at the University of the West Indies (UWI), Cave Hill Campus are today expressing concern that their cries for help from authorities in their homeland are falling on deaf ears.

Speaking on the behalf of her peers, final year law student Shantal Seecharan told Barbados TODAY that most of them, ranging from ages of 20 to 25, were “barely getting by” because they have already run out of funds and were now rationing food supplies.

She said they missed the deadline for flying home before Trinidad and Tobago closed its borders towards the end of March, and repeated efforts to get help from authorities there have been unsuccessful.

“The reason why most of us missed the deadline to go back home is because we didn’t have the funds to just purchase a ticket at that point and leave,” she said.

“In terms of the supplies that we have they are currently running out. Some organisations and people in Trinidad are trying to help us but for the past week it has been very hard to get supplies to us so we have been trying to make arrangements so we would be able to get some groceries. Everything is limited right now so we all have to ration,” said Seecharan.

She explained: “In terms of rent, I know some other students, right now their rents are paid for April, but they don’t know what will happen after April. We suppose the landlords will not kick them out because of the moratorium but we know that is not law.”

Teaching will end this week, but the students still have a number of assignments due, and they are preparing for assessments, which are to take place between May 11 and June 12.

However, speaking on behalf of the 13 students, Seecharan said faced with “extreme sadness” because they were unable to be with their loved ones at this time, the situation has been compounded by the stresses of preparing for assessments.

She said she was not aware that any of the students wanted to withdraw from their studies or drop out, adding that they were doing their best to “power through” and stay positive.

“Some students have told me that their mental health has taken a significant hit, that they are extremely demotivated to continue their studies and to finish their assignments on time. Some of them sleep all day and stay up all night or they are not sleeping and not eating,” she said.

However, she added: “We are all supporting each other because some of us have bad days. Sometimes we want to give up, but we are there for each other and we are remaining strong. We plan to continue to power through and remain hopeful that our government will answer our call.”

While the majority of them are final year law students, others are studying medicine and social sciences.

She said the students were overly concerned about their families back home, adding that several of them had family members who were now out of a job.

“Some parents are both essential workers. One student is very concerned that something could happen to one of her parents and she has a younger brother who she would need to be there for if that were to happen,” she said.

“Then we have situations where both parents are non-essential workers and unfortunately, they have lost their jobs and have no income. We also have people from single-parent households . . . and they are living from pay cheque to pay cheque,” she said.

Seecharan explained that most of the students have already received welfare assistance from the university in the past year.

The last time they tried to contact officials in their homeland was on Sunday.

“We have been sending in our applications for the special exemption to our minister of national security (Stuart Young). But those emails and calls have gone unanswered. However, on Sunday we decided to ban together and put all our information in one document, and we sent it Sunday,” she said.

Seecharan said she was pleading with authorities in Trinidad.

“Please, answer our calls, please give us a response and tell us you are beginning the process for us. Tell us what plans, what arrangements are being made for us.

“So far we are not hearing anything and we just want some level of response, some level of reassurance. Something more than just being told ‘stay put’. We want our cries for help to be heard,” she cried.

She told Barbados TODAY that the group has also been in touch with local authorities, seeking help to start the process for them to go back to Trinidad and Tobago. A part of that would include getting tested for the coronavirus in Bridgetown.

She said local officials have been responding to their emails and things were looking positive.

Seecharan explained that while the group of students was told by the group of 33 seniors that they could be accommodated on their flight that was scheduled to leave Bridgetown on Tuesday for Port of Spain, they were unable to make it because they did not get clearance from Trinidad officials and they have not yet been tested by local medical officials.

Seecharan said the lawyers who acted on behalf of the seniors had agreed to help the students in their quest.
marlonmadden@barbadostoday.bb