BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – The Caribbean Community (CARICOM) Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) began a four-day meeting here on Monday with Prime Minister Dr. Terrence Drew noting the increased instances of violent crime involving the use of illegal firearms in the region.
Prime Minister Dr. Terrence Drew “Here in St. Kitts and Nevis, we can give testimony to this as in the past year, we recorded several incidents of gun violence. Further solidifying my point is my country’s current reality where our law enforcement agencies are fully engaged to arrest a crime spike, we have been experiencing for the month of April,” Prime Minister Drew told the CARICOM Crime Gun Intelligence Unit (CGIU) Sensitization and Awareness meeting.
He said St. Kitts and Nevis is not immune to the increased incidence of firearms-related crime and that the law enforcement agencies in the twin island Federation are “fully engaged to arrest this menace to our society”.
IMPACS said the meeting here is the first in a series of sensitisation and awareness meetings as part of its efforts to address gun crime in the region. Other meetings are schedule to take place in all 15 CARICOM member states over the coming months.
“These meetings aim to support CARICOM countries in detecting and stemming the wave of firearms-related crimes which are pervading our national and regional borders,” said Lt. Col. Michael Jones, CARICOM IMPACS executive director.
IMPACS said that “The Weapons Compass: The Caribbean Firearms Study 2023,” notes that: “rhe Caribbean region suffers from some of the world’s highest rates of violent deaths, with firearms used in the majority of these crimes. Although most homicide victims are men, the Caribbean as a region also faces one of the world’s highest rates of violent deaths among women.”
Prime Minister Drew said that almost 18 years ago, CARICOM Impacts was born out of a collective desire to reduce gun trafficking and violence in the region.
“We have achieved much since then. We have benefited from capacity-building initiatives, explored avenues for sustainable intervention programmes, and implemented international and regional commitments that focus on the reduction of firearms-related violence.
“We have collaborated with various partners and stakeholders on policy issues that redound to the benefit of our region. We continue to work at finding new and innovative ways to advance security. However, like anything else, there is much more work to be done and improvements to be had.”
Prime Minister Drew said that the presence and prevalence of illegal firearms have been the “bane of our existence in the Caribbean region for quite some time.
“It follows that gun violence is a form of crime with which we have long been embattled. There is not a single firearms and ammunition manufacturing facility located here in the Caribbean, yet our small island developing states have been locked in this tenuous fight to preserve the lives of our people – our most precious resource.
“Every life is indeed precious, and every life must be valued and protected. In spite of our best anti-crime and border management efforts, this scourge has stubbornly grown and evolved with us. Hence the complexity of the matter” he told the opening ceremony.
Prime Minister Drew said the trafficking of illegal weapons into any nation is a direct breach of its borders and a threat to the safety and security of every man, woman, and child therein. “Such actions serve only to erode the efficacy and integrity of the national security apparatuses of our countries here in the Caribbean. As a people and as a nation, it is our national duty to learn all that we can in order to arrest this plague and rid our societies of the dark veil of gun violence,” he added.
This workshop is being facilitated by CARICOM IMPACS and the partner agencies of the United States and the organisers said that over the next few days, participants will outline the purpose and objective of the CGIU, as well as explore the role of member states with respect to information and intelligence sharing with the CGIU.
Prime Minister Drew said he was looking forward to engaging in “robust and substantial dialogues with my CARICOM and international colleagues for the purposes of buttressing our maritime security strategy; identifying potential new threats; and sharing information vital to the strengthening of our national security systems”.
He said he hopes it will provide “us with actionable information to assist with charting the course to an era free of gun crime.
“Let me highlight of course, that it requires the whole region, with our international partners, to deal with the scourge of the trafficking of guns across this beautiful region,” he added.
