Guyana: Illicit Guns Fuel Crime, Threaten Caribbean’s Stability – Guyana’s Un Representative

By Marvin Cato | HGP Nightly News | UNITED NATIONS, NEW YORK — Speaking on behalf of the Caribbean community on the global stage, Permanent Representative of Guyana to the United Nations, Carolyn Rodrigues-Birkett, has issued an urgent call to the international community to drastically strengthen controls over firearm marking, record-keeping, and tracking networks. Rodrigues-Birkett, who is currently serving as the Chair of the CARICOM Caucus of Permanent Representatives for the May–June cycle, delivered the high-level policy address during the UN Biennial Meeting of States. The summit was convened specifically to evaluate global compliance with the Program of Action to Prevent, Combat, and Eradicate the Illicit Trade in Small Arms and Light Weapons in All Its Aspects. Disrupting the Flows of “Dark Money” Weapons The Guyanese diplomat argued that establishing bulletproof, international regulatory frameworks is the only way to dismantle the illicit cross-border supply chains that feed violent crime across the Caribbean basin. She demanded that all UN member states align their domestic enforcement mechanisms with the statutory mandates of the International Tracing Instrument (ITI). “In this regard, we call for strengthened controls over marking, record-keeping, and tracing in full accordance with the ITI. Effective tracing remains an essential tool in disrupting illicit supply chains and bringing greater transparency to global arms flows,” Rodrigues-Birkett stated clearly during her address. The Ambassador reminded the assembly that Guyana and the broader CARICOM shield remain deeply vulnerable to a non-stop influx of illegal firearms. This crisis, she noted, is continuously driven by weapons being diverted from legal overseas markets, poor tracking of state stockpiles, and increasingly sophisticated maritime smuggling operations. A Multilateral Crisis Requesting Enhanced Accountability The Ambassador stressed that because the Caribbean does not manufacture small arms, the manufacturing and exporting nations must step up and accept shared responsibility for the violence their products cause abroad. “The Caribbean region continues to face significant challenges as the proliferation of small arms and light weapons remains a serious threat to peace, security, and sustainable development,” Rodrigues-Birkett warned accessibly. She acknowledged that while modern digital tracking technology offers new opportunities to secure ports, severe technical and financial capacity constraints continue to hinder CARICOM member states from building adequate border defenses. Translating Global Rules into Local Enforcement Action To counter these gaps, the Ambassador highlighted that Caribbean states are actively working to turn abstract global treaties into concrete field enforcement. A primary tool in this effort is the Caribbean Firearms Roadmap , a regional initiative supported by the CARICOM Implementation Agency for Crime and Security (IMPACS) and various international partners. Regional Safety Metrics Strategic Operational Objectives Target Risk Sectors Regulatory Systems Strengthen legislative and licensing rules Commercial import loops Illicit Interdiction Reduce the volume of illegal border flows Unmonitored maritime drop points Law Enforcement Enhance tactical tracking and tracing capacity Port of entry customs units Arsenal Security Eliminate internal diversion risks entirely Government & non-government depots The regional framework provides a clear blueprint to enhance law enforcement capacity, tighten weapons tracking, and eliminate the risk of weapons being leaked or stolen from both state and private arsenals. CARICOM is demanding that international partners match this local commitment by boosting technical intelligence sharing and strictly policing their own domestic weapon exporters to halt the flow of illegal guns into the Caribbean. Related

Source: hgptv.com