Serving as a backdrop to the Summit this month is the establishment of a CARICOM Single Market in 2006 and plans for full economic integration in 2008. In terms of trade with the U.S.. the CARICOM Single Market and Economy (CSME) serves as an opportunity to strengthen lies and better prepare the region for a treetrade agreement (FTA) with the United States. In addition to U.S.-Caribbean trade revisions. there is also a need to create a framework to manage the negative impact of the deportation process on the CARICOM nations. Caribbean govemnments assert that rising crime rates in some Caribbean nations can be attributed in part to the large number of criminal deportees they receive from the United States. with over 5.000 being sent from the U.S. to the Caribbean between October 2005 and October 2006. High rates of crime and violence in the Caribbean are undermining growth and investment. threatening human welfare. and impeding social development. Our national security is also threatened by a failure to manage the deportation process. When deportees are sent to the Caribbeanmany of whom acquire assets and connections in the United Statesthey are often sent emptyhanded without a family support network in the Caribbean. This situation breeds poverty among deportees. which can make weak States vulnerable to terrorist networks and drug cartels within their borders. According to the World Bank. murder rates in the Caribbean are higher than in any other region of the worid. and assault rates are significantly above the worid average. These challenges compounded by narcotics trafficking. which is at the core of these high rates. transcend national boundaries. threaten Americas national security. and require a coordinated regional response.
Keywords matched
deportation deportees