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Posted: Thursday 23 March, 2006 at 8:09 AM
Erasmus Williams

    BASSETERRE, ST. KITTS, WEDNESDAY 22ND MARCH 2006 - St. Kitts and

     

    Nevis appealed on Wednesday to the United Nations Security Council for

     

    cooperation and assistance to support the efforts of the twin-island

     

    Federation and other nations, to "prevent, combat and eradicate the illicit

     

    trade in small arms and light weapons in all its aspects."

     

    The appeal was made by St. Kitts and Nevis' Ambassador Plenipotentiary and

     

    Permanent Representative to the United Nations, His Excellency, Dr. Joseph

     

    Christmas, during the 5,390th Meeting of the Security Council. It was the

     

    first time that a St. Kitts and Nevis representative addressed the UN

     

    Security Council.

     

    Dr. Christmas told the Security Council that the issue of the illicit

     

    trafficking in small arms is of grave concern to St. Kitts and Nevis.

     

    St. Kitts and Nevis, he said, has been experiencing a significant increase

     

    in all types of crime, in particular crimes against persons and property,

     

    which has paralleled the increase in firearms offences.

     

    "At the end of the 1980's, such serious crimes as murder and manslaughter

     

    averaged about 2 per year, but over the last five years, this was averaging

     

    over 10 per year, a five-fold increase since 1990. Meanwhile, over the same

     

    period there was an 18-fold increase in firearms crimes and offences," said

     

    Dr. Christmas, who pointed out that at this rate of growth in a few year's

     

    time, the consequences would be disastrous for the country's economy, in

     

    particular on the tourism sector, even as the Government strove to develop

     

    it to offset the closure of the 350-year-old sugar industry in the face of

     

    trade liberalisation pressures and escalating costs.

     

    Dr. Christmas said that an increase in crime would also seriously undermine

     

    the long-standing democratic structures of governance in the country and

     

    threaten its stability.

     

    He said that the illicit trafficking in small arms was not only having a

     

    negative effect on St. Kitts and Nevis, but also several other Caribbean

     

    islands and it continued to have a devastating effect on many parts of

     

    Africa - so rich in natural resources that it should easily be among the

     

    world's most prosperous continents - had attracted the wrong type of

     

    players, whose greed, aided by the illicit trafficking in arms, among other

     

    things, had helped to fuel conflicts and retard development, making Africa

     

    the poorest continent.

     

    The top St. Kitts and Nevis United Nations official said there was also a

     

    corresponding link with the illicit trafficking in drugs and humans and was

     

    of the view that all of those areas should be addressed simultaneously.

     

    "If the concept of collective security, as emphatically underscored at the

     

    September 2005 World Summit, is to have any real meaning, then the

     

    international community must act to help the less able countries to combat

     

    the scourge, he said.

     

    Ambassador Christmas said it was a just request, because most of the

     

    countries affected did not manufacture the weapons.

     

    "St. Kitts and Nevis aligned itself with the urgent necessity for

     

    international cooperation and assistance in supporting the efforts of

     

    national Governments to prevent, control and eradicate the illicit trade in

     

    small arms and light weapons," concluded Ambassador Christmas.

     

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