The third annual United Kingdom-Caribbean Heads of Defence Staff Conference has heard a call for Small Island Developing States (SIDS) to develop effective strategies to deal with trans-national crime and criminal organizations.
The conference is being hosted jointly by the Barbados Defence Force (BDF) and the United Kingdom (UK) Armed Forces.
The organizers said the conference will also allow for an analyses of the issues impacting regional security, including humanitarian assistance disaster response cooperation, and understanding the United Kingdom perspective on providing assistance in the aforementioned areas.
Barbados Home Affairs and Information Minister, Wilfred Abrahams, said while globalization had strengthened the interconnectivity of the Caribbean, it had also created avenues for criminal networks in the region to thrive.
“What has created several opportunities for economic diversification and advancement has also had a negative, unintended consequence of increasing the complex and multifaceted nature of current and emerging threats,” Abrahams told the two-day conference.
“This phenomenon has created avenues for criminal networks to collaborate and, consequently, become more difficult to counter, unfettered by borders or national bureaucracy. Criminal networks and alliances are able to exploit the inconsistencies in our regional security mechanisms and capabilities.”
Abrahams said these threats had worsened due to a number of factors such as the climate change crisis and the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
“Regrettably, the trials of the pandemic engaged and diverted the attention of world governments and law enforcement agencies, thus providing the perfect opportunity for transnational criminal organizations, cybercriminals, violent extremist organizations and other threat actors to gain a stronger foothold in the region.
He said the Caribbean’s normally peaceable existence has been marred by the proliferation of trafficking in illegal firearms, illegal drugs and human trafficking, which all enable violent crime.
Abrahams said with the scarcity of maritime assets, coastal surveillance systems and trained personnel, it has become problematic to adequately patrol the region’s sea passages.
In his address, the home affairs minister urged delegates to conceptualize systems and regional mechanisms that will improve resilience to natural hazards and enhance the efficacy and speed of the response thereafter.
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