Dionne Rose, Parliamentary Reporter

A new survey done by the Ministry of National Security and the Planning Institute of Jamaica has established that there is a direct statistical correlation between increases in deportation and increases in the country's murder rate.

Minister of National Security, Dr. Peter Phillips, divulged the contents of the survey while closing the Sectoral Debate in the House of Representatives, yesterday.

Dr. Phillips said the survey showed that there was strong correlation in connection with deportation for sexual, drug and gun-related offences.

Crimes not reported

The survey also stated that 53 per cent of deportees revealed they had been involved in criminal activities since their expulsion. This included crimes not reported to the police.

Meanwhile, of those reporting their involvement in crime, 78 per cent reported that they had committed more than one crime. Another 35 per cent reported that they were involved in drug-related offences, 37 per cent had either threatened to seriously injury someone or had attacked someone with a weapon. Another 10 per cent also admitted to illegal use or possession of a firearm.

"Deported criminal offenders are convicted of crimes in Jamaica at approximately the same rate as local criminal offenders. The rate of conviction for deported persons was one in 18, compared to one in 17 for the general population," said Dr. Phillips.

He said the survey also showed that women who had been deported were likely to have been involved in crime since their deportation, with 65 per cent of women, compared to 49 per cent of men, reporting criminal involvement.

Drug-related activities

He said, similarly twice as many women (42 per cent) were involved in drug-related activities. The National Security Minister said the survey also indicated that persons who reported non-criminal charges were more likely to be overrepresented in criminal convictions in Jamaica than persons with criminal convictions in the country.

"These findings, Mr. Speaker, speak to an urgent need to develop effective strategies that will enable our law enforcement and social service agencies to adequately respond to the continued influx of criminal offenders," he said.

Dr. Philips said the Government would be engaging in dialogue with the deporting countries so that they could more effectively understand that the deportation of these criminals does not essentially rid them of the problem, but was rather worsening the situation for the receiving country, which would in turn impact on them overtime.

He said that the policy recommendations of the survey would be taken to Cabinet for its consideration and discussion and then tabled in the House for debate.

The study was conducted last October and should have been completed in April of this year, but was extended.