WASHINGTON, DC – St. Kitts-Nevis Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew says the persistent issue of crime and security continues to loom large in the global community and the 15-member Caribbean Community (CARICOM) member states are no exception.
Prime Minister Dr. Terrance Drew addressing OAS forumAddressing the the meeting to discuss the “Special Security Concerns Of The Small Island And Low-Lying Coastal Developing States Of The Caribbean,” Prime Minister Drew told the Organization of American States (OAS)-sponsored event that the forum serves as a stark reminder of the urgent need to address the pressing challenges of gang violence and illicit firearms access, particularly in the Caribbean region.
Drew, who is the chairman of the CARICOM Council of Ministers of National Security and Law Enforcement (CONSLE), said it is important the conference on a theme that is critical not only to CARICOM, but to every member state that recognizes the value of peace and security to our shared vision for fortifying the Americas security, democracy, development, and human rights.
“Today, we focus on the special security concerns of the Small Island and Low-lying Coastal Developing States of the Caribbean, which are many, which are daunting, which are real. Our success at addressing them will make our region and all of the Americas a safer space in which our people can thrive in peace.”
Prime Minister Drew said he wanted to commend the organizers for convening this forum, which highlights the vital importance of collaboration and partnership in tackling the longstanding challenges of gang violence and illicit firearms access.
“Crime, especially gang-related violence, continues to evolve and grow increasingly complex in our region, necessitating innovative and holistic approaches to effectively combat it.”
Drew said that the region’s contemporary geopolitical landscape is characterized by unprecedented global interdependence and the proliferation of new technological tools, underpinned by the ubiquity of social media platforms.
He said this phenomenal interconnectedness underscores the reality that events in one corner of the world can have far-reaching repercussions across the hemisphere, impacting regions and nations far removed from the origin of the event.
“ In this context, the traditional boundaries between domestic and international security blur, compelling governments and policymakers to understand new dimensions, risks, and threats, and adopt a nuanced approach to security risks and threats at the national, regional, hemispheric, and global levels.
”Therefore, as governments and policymakers, it is critically important that we possess a clear understanding of the security risks and threats facing the regions, the hemisphere, the global community, and their implications for our nations and peoples. By extension, it is equally essential that governments and policymakers understand the distinct characteristics of different Regions and sub-regions within the hemisphere.”
He said as the Chair of CONSLE, he is using the term ‘CARICOM’ rather than ‘Latin America and the Caribbean’, to demonstrate the uniqueness of different regions within the hemisphere, which may require different policy prescriptions to address the same threat which may be perpetrated using different modalities.
”In varying global reports, the Caribbean and Latin America are treated as a geostrategic whole. It is important that governments and policymakers not only conceptualize the hemisphere as a whole but understand the unique characteristics and vulnerabilities of regions that comprise the hemisphere.”
Prime Minister Drew said that despite facing shared challenges such as gang violence and illicit firearms access, CARICOM represents a unique entity with its own set of vulnerabilities and complexities, distinct from those of other sub-regions in the hemisphere.
“CARICOM security interests must be understood within the context of the special peculiarities of Small Island and Low-Lying Coastal Developing States in the Caribbean.
”To a large extent, due to their small size, member states of CARICOM have inherent challenges with respect to sustainable security policy, which include: limited institutional and human capacity; extensive and open maritime frontiers; limited prospects for trade and economic diversification; significant susceptibility to external shocks such as natural disasters; the general perils of transnational organized crime; and reliance on a narrow range of security instruments for policy making and implementation.”
Drew said collectively, these characteristics confer a high degree of vulnerability upon Small Island Developing States (SIDS) of CARICOM and serve to heighten the difficulties they face in pursuing their security interests.
He told the forum on Thursday that the 15 CARICOM states have a total population of over 18 million and that “it is important to reiterate and emphasize that “smallness” contributes to a state’s security challenges and impacts its policy response.
“While international norms and cooperation help Small Island and Low-Lying Coastal Developing States of the Caribbean cope with their security challenges, they do not remove this inherent structural reality. Therefore, the vulnerabilities and special circumstances of SIDS must be taken into account in their interactions with the international system and hemispheric security.”
Prime Minister Drew said that CARICOM SIDS are further confronted with the challenge of asserting their security concerns on the hemispheric and international agenda.
He said with limited resources, conducting effective security policy negotiations and advancing their strategic interests pose unique difficulties for the CARICOM states.
”In the plethora of international security challenges that inevitably draw the attention and involvement of the major powers, the problems of CARICOM and SIDS are sometimes perceived as minuscule.
“Persistent global conflicts can distract the United Nations and the Region’s traditional partners from devoting both attention and resources to the persistent serious problems of crime and violence in CARICOM.”
Prime Minister Drew said that the problems of SIDS and the associated threats of gang violence are too often perceived as minor in international security fora.
He said this is partly due to scale, the non-traditional nature of the threats they face, prioritization of other global threats, including state conflicts and weapons of mass destruction, and because these threats are often not seen as state armed conflict.
”The member states of CARICOM are all affected – to varying degrees – by gang violence and illicit firearms access and the negative impact it unleashes on citizens’ lives and livelihoods, as well as their socioeconomic development.
“SIDS are more susceptible to disruption by criminal gangs, syndicates than larger and more developed economies. Given their small size and limited capacities, such states face major challenges, in particular, reduced capacity to confront and mount effective national and regional responses to counter violent criminal gangs and stem access to illicit firearms.
“This also includes effectively patrolling the Caribbean’s expansive maritime borders. These challenges can disproportionately affect national and regional security and ultimately impact the maintenance of peace and security.”
Prime Minister Drew said that he is also pleased that the participating member states at this forum consist of representatives from all jurisdictions.
“I will, therefore, not shirk my responsibility as a CARICOM Head to posit that this speaks to how fundamentally this justifies and underscores the necessity of building synergies and partnerships in addressing the challenges with which we are confronted as Small Island and Low-Lying Coastal Developing States of the Caribbean.”
He said the increased incidences of violent crimes, notably shootings, and homicides, with a large majority linked to gang violence, have created much unease for the communities of the small island states with security forces that are ill-equipped, for the most part, to deal with the issue of gang-related crimes.
“Illegal guns account for over eighty percent of homicides in some CARICOM member states. The Caribbean Firearms Study documented that the average medical expenditure required to treat a single firearm injury was equivalent to between two and 11 times the annual per capita public health expenditure in the three countries that were a part of the study (Bahamas, Barbados, and Jamaica).
”We are therefore cognizant of the fact that we cannot address the issue of gang violence in isolation without considering illicit trafficking in drugs and firearms. The profound negative impact and consequences of the illegal gun trade go far beyond the high levels of homicide. Illegal guns play a key role in all aspects of trafficking, not just as a trafficked commodity but as a means of facilitating the trafficking of other commodities and as a tool to support criminal and deviant behaviour such as robberies, rape, and other forms of sexual and non-sexual violence.”
Drew said of grave concern is the significant increase in the number of high-powered weapons and ammunition that have made their way into the region and while significant measures have been and continue to be put in place, the criminals always appear to be a step ahead.
“For example, while we are all catching up on the tracing of firearms, criminals are now proficiently utilizing 3D printers and creating Privately Made Firearms which are now untraceable.”
He said the creation of the CARICOM Crime Gun Intelligence Unit has yielded some successes already in its 10 months of existence and that is mostly due to all the agencies coming together, sharing information, and working together for the betterment of all.
During his address, Prime Minister Drew spoke of the efforts by CARICOM leaders to address a number of issues contributing to crime and violence in the region, including music, noting that “most recently some of the most notorious of these gang members have put out public videos expressing their camaraderie and offering financial support to the gangs in Haiti.
“Their modus operandi has shown us that what they speak or sing about in public is often ongoing or will happen in the near future. We now need to focus on the proliferation of gangs in the region, the causes, and their inter-connectedness.
”In CARICOM, there is unanimous consensus amongst States that combating gang violence and illicit firearms access requires common action. It is also clear that no one strategy will give rise to the desired outcome. In fact, experts have recommended a multi-pronged approach that allows for creating that delicate balance between prevention, intervention, and suppression, that is using the judicial process to arrest, prosecute, and control the spread of the gang culture.
“This requires quick action. However, the slow court process makes this a challenge for most Caribbean countries. Evidence has proven that the prevention approach has borne fruits as far as the impact on gang-related crime reduction is concerned,” Drew told the forum.
He insisted that CARICOM member states are firmly committed to addressing gang violence and illicit trafficking of firearms and other contraband.
“We are hopeful this meeting will give further impetus to our efforts to address these threats collectively,” Prime Minister Drew said.
