Prime Minister Portia Simpson Miller has called on the United States and other countries responsible for deporting thousands of persons to Jamaica and other Caribbean countries in recent years to cooperate with the country and the region in implementing measures to cut off the flow of guns to Caribbean countries.

Mrs. Simpson Miller, during her address on Tuesday's first day of a three-day conference on the Caribbean at the World Bank in Washington, D.C, said the U.S. and these other nations should also assist in devising programmes for the rehabilitation, reintegration and monitoring of deportees.

The Prime Minister said the request was a fair one as crime and violence had grave implications, not only for Caribbean societies, but for the security of developed countries as well.

In support of her call, Mrs. Simpson Miller, who was speaking in her capacity as chairman of the CARICOM Prime Ministerial Subcommittee on External Negotiations, noted that in a global environment, crime required an international response. She said Jamaica and the rest of the CARICOM countries do not manufacture guns, but were nevertheless being flooded with guns and ammunition.

Further action

"While the Caribbean appreciates the cooperation we have received in this area in the past, a case must be made that this is an area which demands further action," she added.

The Prime Minister also noted that in many cases the persons being deported left the Caribbean mainly for the U.S., Canada and the United Kingdom when they were babies, and therefore were not socialised in Caribbean societies. Therefore, on deportation to the region, they are without family links and often end up homeless.