Over last weekend, we were all shaken by the news of the cowardly shooting of our legal colleague Samantha Wright. While we cannot comment directly on the incident, as it is part of ongoing investigations, we must keep Samantha in our prayers.
In the coming days and weeks, we hope that justice will be done.
What we know is that, last Sunday morning, Samantha was shot five times in the back while sitting in her car. She had to be flown to the Cayman Islands for treatment, where she is, at the time of writing, about to undergo emergency surgery. We have been told that she is in stable but serious condition, and we are all praying intensely for her recovery.
A GoFundMe page has since been set up in her name to help raise money for her treatment and therapy, to which we invite all the people of Anguilla and all our friends and well-wishers abroad to contribute.
The incident involving Samantha should remind us all about the need to take extra precautions in managing our personal safety. While our crime rate in Anguilla is relatively low, and our territory is among the safest in the region, every now and again, and sad to say with somewhat increasing frequency, incidents like this occur that jolt us out of our comfort zones. Over the past 10 years, we have seen increasing incidences of criminal activity, mainly involving local gangs, guns and drugs. And while by all measuring standards, our situation is nowhere near most of the islands around us, we have to guard against even the smallest escalation.
We have to be mindful of the times, and the regional and international context in which our island operates, and begin to take preventative steps to ensure that our beautiful Anguilla remains as safe as it has always been. Indeed, one of the biggest selling points for our tourism product is the safety of Anguilla.
There is no doubt that we will have to fund the improvement of the surveillance capacities of our local police, improving the preventative posture of the force. There is a feeling that Anguilla, like many of the islands around us, is being increasingly used as a transit point for drugs, finding their way from South and Central America en route to the US mainland. A regional approach involving deeper security collaboration between the security forces of the various territories will have to be a crucial component of this process.
We are aware that a number of international agencies and governments have been increasingly helping to fund such a regional approach. That partnership must be strengthened and deepened. It is through these partnerships, as well as through the UK government – and through the Governor’s office playing its pivotal part — that we will be able to strengthen our capacities and improve on the security of both our residents and visitors.
At a recent CARICOM Chiefs of Immigration meeting in Jamaica, at which Anguilla was represented, some important discussions were held about regional border security, and how collaboration is crucial in the fight against crime in the region. In this context, it is instructive to quote the Barbados Chief Immigration Officer, Wayne Marshall, who said at that meeting that: “Border security is a common concern, especially for us here today. We must work together on common border security challenges. It not only facilitates stability in our region, but it leads to… safe and secure movement of people, as well as services. Together we must tackle illegal, cross-border activities. We must fight organised crime — including corruption and illegal migration, weapons, drugs smuggling, and trafficking in human beings to name a few.”
Jamaica’s Minister of State in the Ministry of National Security, the Honourable Rudyard Spencer, who agreed with Marshall, said there is a demand for improve partnerships. He said: “In the face of porous borders, shifting criminals and terror stress, it is indeed true that no man is an island and no man stands alone. While the dynamic security environment is not unique to the Caribbean, what is unique is our physical environment and borders. What is clear is that things cannot be business as usual in terms of our approach.” He went on to say that the regional priorities are now the illegal drug trade, trafficking of firearms, identity theft, data breaches, and the increase in human trafficking and smuggling.
Let us have the courage to outlaw any trend towards that slippery slope in Anguilla. The time to act is now, not when it is too late.
