By Ivan Cairo
Caribbean Net News Suriname Correspondent
Email: ivan@caribbeannetnews.com
PARAMARIBO, Suriname; The French government have pledged 400,000 euros over the next four years to improve Suriname’s law-enforcement initiatives and advance cooperation in the fight against crime, French Ambassador Richard Barbeyron said during an anti-drugs and money-laundering seminar in Paramaribo.
Suriname and the French overseas department, French Guiana, share the Marowijne River as border, while illegal activities such as smuggling of goods, drug trafficking and illegal small-scale gold mining is rampant in the border area.
Law enforcement in the area so far has no strong effect since illegal miners flee to French-Guiana and vice versa when authorities of both countries clamp down on their activities.
Closer cooperation between law enforcement agencies of the two nations is the only solution for the problems, Barbeyron told journalists. According to the diplomat Suriname is an important partner for France in its fight against transnational crime.
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| Suriname Justice Minister Chandrikapersad Santokhi |
In 2001 Suriname’s justice minister Chandrikapersad Santokhi signed an agreement with then Interior Minister Nicholas Sarkozy to allow cross-border operation within a two kilometers area into each others space to chase criminals, but the Suriname government has yet to sanction the agreement.
Sources indicate that especially in parliament there is a strong opposition against the agreement.
At the three-day ‘Regional Anti-drug and Money-Laundering’ seminar, Santokhi noted that drug-trafficking with its tremendous financial benefits for criminals are a serious threat to safety, security and democracy in the region. Therefore a concerted cooperation between neighbouring countries and others across the region is necessary to tackle this problem.
He also mentioned that, since money and capital attracts criminals, an anti-money-laundering strategy is a very important instrument to address all forms of crime in the region.
During the seminar, which was concluded Wednesday, representatives from Suriname, Guyana, French Guiana, Brazil, Trinidad and Tobago, Venezuela and Columbia discusses initiatives and policies to tackle money-laundering and drug-trafficking in the region.
In an invited comment, Santokhi disclosed that next week a joint-commission from the two countries will meet here in Paramaribo to identify projects for financing.
“In the first stage of the cooperation the projects were about institutional strengthening of the Military Police, the office of the Public Prosecutor and the Suriname Police Force, treaties and training of law enforcement officials,” said the minister.
He further noted that one of the priorities of the ministry of Justice is to enhance security in the border area since this area is very important to tourism in Suriname.
Recently, top officials from the prosecutor’s office, police force, penitentiaries and fire department traveled to Cayenne to discuss several issues with their French counterparts. |
