Twelve people who had been detained in Turkey since 2015 returned to Trinidad and Tobago yesterday after being deported.
In a special media briefing yesterday, Deputy Police Commissioner Wayne Dick said the local authorities had very little information on the reason for the detention of the 12, who were stopped from entering Turkey.
Asked about the connection between the detainees and the Islamic State, Dick, who is set to retire next week, said: “We have no information whatsoever linking these persons who are expected to arrive with Shane Crawford. We also have no information as to their involvement in any aspect whatsoever as far as ISIS is concerned.”
Crawford is one of some 150 locals who left the country to join the terrorist group and was killed following is US-led air strike in Syria last year. Crawford’s assets were also seized through new legislation which allows the State to seize the assets of any national deemed a terrorist.
Dick said the 12, including children, were never arrested and charged in Turkey and they had received “limited information” from Turkish authorities. He said they hoped to clear up all the ambiguity when the Turkish agents arrived with the group. He said the 12 were never arrested or charged with any offence and they could not say why they were deported.
Dick did not disclose the identities of the individuals because they were not arrested or charged and this would open the police up to lawsuits.
Asked why the 12 were deported to begin with, Dick answered: “First of all, persons aren’t only deported because they commit a crime. There are several other reasons, for instance border entry issues; in this case we do not know.
“As you’ve asked the question let me now say to you, the reason we are now updating you is because it has been in the public domain for quite some time about persons who have been detained in Turkey and it has been reported before this day that law enforcement had been conducting investigations for us to ascertain.
“Now that we have this information, which we only received within a few hours prior to this point in time, it is incumbent upon us to report to you.”
It was reported in January that the group was detained in Turkey together with a Syrian man who was suspected of trying to take them to join terrorist group Isis in Iraq. They had been housed at the Adana Refugee Centre in Turkey since their detention. The T&T Government had repeatedly said there was little information forthcoming on them.
But the T&T Guardian was informed that the group comprised at least three males and five females, all Muslims. Four are members of one family, which includes two males, one four-month-old boy and a 19-year-old male. The females in that family are aged 29 and 17.
The other family in the group comprised a 32-year-old woman, 12-year-old girl and ten-month-old baby boy along with a 20-year-old woman. One family is from central Trinidad, it was confirmed. At least two of the females had been taken out of school to go overseas, according to members of the local Muslim community.
