Acting Minister of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs, Attorney General John Jeremie SC, on Friday outlined the government’s contingency plans for Trinidad and Tobago nationals caught in the escalating Middle East conflict.
Responding to Opposition queries in the Lower House, the AG confirmed that the Ministry of Foreign and CARICOM Affairs is actively monitoring the safety of citizens in the region.
“The Ministry’s focus has been on establishing communications, seeing to logistics, and arranging safe passage for emergencies. In Saudi Arabia, our records show that we have 42 nationals, in Bahrain, five, and in the United Arab Emirates 169 — that is Dubai and Abu Dhabi.”
AG Jeremie said the Ministry had established a crisis response programme comprising an emergency hotline available on the Ministry’s website and social media platforms.
“In Qatar, 108 and in Kuwait, we have no records at present. The Ministry has been contacted by the following number of persons to date: Number of calls received from nationals on behalf of their families in the Middle East for the period 2nd to 5th March: 10. Number of emails from nationals and nationals in the Middle East from the period 2nd March to 5th March: 18.”