WASHINGTON, CMC:
NATIONAL SECURITY Minister, Dr. Peter Phillips, has called for increased collaboration between Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries and the United States in combating the illegal drug trade and other security concerns in the region.
"It is important that a holistic approach be adopted to looking at security in the region and the inter-relationships and inter-linkages that exist between violent criminal activity, the availability of weapons and the trafficking of drugs in the Caribbean," Phillips said in an address to the Inter-American Dialogue in Washington. "The intersection of these (components) provides a platform for these enterprises to suborn and undermine critical institutions within the region, which in turn could impact governance, civil authority and the rule of law."
Prior to his presentation, Dr. Phillips held several high-level meetings with Ambassador Thomas Shannon, special assistant to President George Bush and senior director for Western Hemisphere affairs at the White House, and Ambassador Roger Noriega, assistant secretary of state for Western Hemisphere affairs at the Department of State.
Dr. Phillips said the era of globalisation had not only impacted the conduct of legitimate commerce and the movement of people, but had also served to "facilitate the dramatic growth of transnational criminal activity, with criminal enterprises in the U.S. developing strong linkages with counterparts in the Caribbean and thus posing even more formidable challenges for law enforcement in the Caribbean."
He said the influx of deportees had exacerbated the problem and that receiving countries would have to collaborate more closely with the deporting states, to aid the assimilation of the deportees and to reduce prospects for their participation in criminal activity.
