Australian High Commissioner Philip Kentwell looks foward to assisting the Caribbean in its efforts to control illegal immigration. - Ian Allen/Staff Photographer

CARIBBEAN COUNTRIES feeling the strain of illegal immigration might soon get assistance to prevent such influx from Australia's government, says Philip Kentwell, that country's high commissioner to the Caribbean.

Kentwell, who was in Jamaica last week, told The Gleaner he has met security officials in some Caribbean territories and discussed possible collaboration with their counterparts in Australia. He visited Jamaica in May for talks with Police Commissioner Rear Admiral Hardley Lewin and Major General Stewart Saunders, chief of defence staff.

"Over the last 30 years, we have developed a level of expertise in this area in Australia which we think we can share with the Caribbean," Kentwell said.

Details withheld

Kentwell did not disclose details of his talks with Lewin and Saunders, but said they spoke about the growing guns-for-drugs trade between criminals in Jamaica and Haiti, which has resulted in the arrests of several persons from both countries.

Last week, Operation Kingfish, an elite squad in the Jamaica Constabulary Force, reported that the United Nations Security Forces had arrested Jamaican Clifford Mills, said to be a major figure in the illicit trade.

Jamaican police have arrested nationals from Haiti and Latin America for illegally entering the country during the last decade. Most of the Haitians land in the east coast parishes of St Thomas and Portland, saying they fled civil unrest in their country.

Fishermen from Honduras and El Salvador have been arrested off the Pedro Cays on Jamaica's south coast, mainly for fishing without permits.

Caribbean Community member states Barbados and Suriname and the British Virgin Islands, an associate member, have also experienced an influx of illegal immigrants from Haiti and the Dominican Republic.

Problems with foreigners

Australia has had its problems with foreign nationals attempting to enter that country from war-torn countries like Afghanistan and Iraq, as well as China and Indonesia. Former Australian Prime Minister John Howard instituted the Pacific Solution in 2001, using the country's navy to block boats from coming ashore.

Kentwell, a career diplomat, has been Australia's high commissioner to the Caribbean since June 2007. He is based in Port-of-Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.