CARIBBEAN-PM Drew says Caribbean countries have been battling gun violence for a long time

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BASSETERRE, St. Kitts, CMC – 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.

“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 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 in arresting this menace to our society.”

IMPACS said the meeting here is the first in a series of sensitization and awareness meetings it is holding to address gun crime in the region. Over the coming months, other meetings are scheduled to take place in all 15 CARICOM member states.

“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: “the 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 programs, and implemented international and regional commitments to reduce firearms-related violence.

“We have collaborated with various partners and stakeholders on policy issues that benefit our region. We continue to find new and innovative ways to advance security. However, like anything else, there is much more work to be done and improvements to be made.”

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 armed. There is no single firearms and ammunition manufacturing facility 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 precious and must be valued and protected. Despite 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 only 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 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 United States’ partner agencies. The organizers said that over the next few days, participants will outline the CGIU’s purpose and objective and explore the role of member states regarding 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 to buttress our maritime security strategy, identify potential new threats, and share 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.

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