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The Guardian
6 days ago
- Politics
- The Guardian
Caribbean leaders pledge to join forces against crime and support for Haiti
Leaders in the Caribbean have pledged to join forces to tackle crime and violence as they reaffirmed their support for Haiti, which the UN says continues to be 'paralysed' by gangs. Taking the reins as chair of the Caribbean Community (Caricom), a bloc of 15 countries, Andrew Holness, Jamaica's prime minister, said security in the region would be a 'matter of great priority' under his chairmanship. The prime minister raised concerns about the current pace of the international momentum to support Haiti, as he addressed the opening of this week's Caricom leaders' summit. He committed to prioritising support for the Caribbean nation, which is a member of Caricom. Speaking to the Guardian at the conference, the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, Gaston Browne, said the challenge of crime and security 'is one of the most significant existential threats facing the region'. 'It requires a collaborative approach among Caricom countries and we recognise that the criminals are getting far more sophisticated and when you look at the issue of transnational criminal activities it is important for us to conjoin our efforts,' he said. Echoing his sentiments, Terrance Drew, the St Kitts and Nevis' prime minister, said he welcomed a regional approach to the issue. 'The region is dealing with the issue of security on multiple levels, Haiti being the area that is most affected. I think this would require, of course, the coordination of all of the member states of the Caricom … so I welcome the reiteration of us working together as a region,' he said. Even as the conference was opening in Montego Bay, Jamaica, on Sunday, Haiti's once-iconic Hotel Oloffson, a beloved Gothic gingerbread building in Port-au-Prince that inspired books, hosted parties and attracted visitors from Mick Jagger to Haitian presidents, was burned down by gangs. According to the UN, since January, more than 4,000 people have been killed in Haiti, a 24% increase compared with the same period last year. Speaking at a press conference at the meeting, member of Haiti's Transitional Presidential Council, Laurent Saint-Cyr, joined the calls for stronger regional assistance to curb the illicit arms trade and drug trafficking, which play a part in fueling Haiti's crisis. 'Haiti, today, needs the region to speak with one voice in defense of security, peace and sustainable development,' he said, adding, 'we are also counting on you to intensify advocacy with other regional and global partners for increased support towards more rigorous regional cooperation.' Holness, who has proposed a regional justice and security framework, called for a strong and coordinated response to the escalating violence in the region, which he said had evolved far beyond traditional street-level crime, posing a threat to the region's security. 'We must dismantle the influence of gangs in our communities, disrupt their finances … I am on record as saying that we need to launch a war on gangs of a similar magnitude and nature to the 'war on terror',' he said. In the past, Caribbean leaders have jointly raised concerns about the alarming 'epidemic of crime and violence in the Caribbean, fueled by illegal guns and organised criminal gangs'. In 2024, Haiti, Trinidad and Tobago and Jamaica topped Statista's homicide rates ranking for Latin America and the Caribbean. Affirming her commitment to unity on regional justice and security, outgoing chair of Caricom, Mia Mottley, the prime minister of Barbados, in her speech at the conference pointed to the issue of gun trafficking from the US to the Caribbean: 'Regrettably I've said over and over we pay a high price for the second amendment rights of the United States of America's citizens,' she said. In 2024, the New York attorney general, Letitia James, announced new measures and legislation to tackle gun trafficking from the US to the Caribbean. James quoted Jamaican government estimates that at least 200 guns are trafficked into the country from the US every month, and said that the weapons are fuelling violent crime and enabling networks that traffic drugs to the US. But Jamaica has since seen a significant decline in murders. The country has accomplished a more than 40% reduction in murders in the first five months of the year, compared with the same period last year, the result, officials say, of a 'sustained and strategic' multibillion-dollar investment in national security. At the Caricom meeting, Holness showed Caribbean leaders some of the country's crime-fighting tech and strategies, which officials said 'demonstrate how Jamaica has integrated advanced technology into law enforcement operations, improving incident response, investigative processes and strategic deployment'. In her opening speech at the conference, Mottley stressed the importance of regional approach to crime and security as she appealed for more countries to choose the Caribbean Court of Justice (CCJ), whose new president, the Jamaican jurist Winston Anderson, was sworn in during the conference, as their final court of appeal. The CCJ is now the final court of appeal for Barbados, Belize, Guyana, Dominica and St Lucia, but for some other Caribbean countries, which were former colonies, the London-based privy council is the final court of appeal. Mottley urged Caribbean citizens to support the CCJ. 'We are aware that there are some countries that have the requirement of referendum,' she said, pointing to the need for public education on the subject.
The Guardian
24-02-2025
- Business
- The Guardian
UK universities educate the most national leaders globally, analysis shows
Universities in the UK, many of which are in the grip of a financial crisis, 'educate more national leaders than any other country in the world', according to analysis. Research by Jisc, the UK's higher education digital, data and technology agency, found UK institutions had educated 50 world leaders who were in post in 2022, with the US in second place with 41, followed by the Russian Federation (14) and France (six). Sector leaders said the research demonstrated the success of UK universities on the global stage, yet almost three in four English institutions are expected to be in the red in 2025-26, according to a recent forecast by the higher education regulator, the Office for Students. Based on analysis of Wikidata, Jisc found the University of Oxford educated the most heads of state or government out of any UK university, with 36 since 1990, followed by the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) with 24. Other institutions in the University of London federation collectively taught a further 16 leaders, followed by the University of Manchester and the University of Cambridge, which educated 13 national heads. Current leaders who graduated from the UK higher education system include Finland's president, Alexander Stubb, who obtained a PhD in international politics at LSE and Gaston Browne, the prime minister of Antigua and Barbuda, who got an MBA in finance at Manchester. Namibia's president-elect and first female leader, Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah, who will be inaugurated on 21 March, studied at Keele University for apostgraduate diploma in international relations and a master's in diplomatic studies. A number of reigning monarchs have also studied for degrees in the UK, including Naruhito, the emperor of Japan, who studied for a postgraduate history degree at Merton College, Oxford. His thesis, titled A Study of Navigation and Traffic on the Upper Thames in the 18th Century, was 'very well-received', according to the university. Swingeing job cuts and course closures are under way across the UK sector. Vice-chancellors say tuition fees have not kept up with inflation and the recently announced modest increase, up from £9,250 to £9,535, will do little to help. A fall in the number of international students applying for visas is also contributing to the crisis. Vivienne Stern, the chief executive of Universities UK, which represents more than 140 universities in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland, said: 'We've always known that our universities are a national asset – and this report demonstrates just how extraordinary they are. 'In a time of increasing global instability, our universities' soft-power benefits are more important than ever. Studying for a degree at a UK institution can shape a life, and many world leaders look back on their student days here with glowing pride, and credit their institution with who they have become today. 'It is essential that these less tangible benefits of a degree are not forgotten, and that we protect our universities, and the role they play on the global stage, both now and in the future.' Heidi Fraser-Krauss, Jisc chief executive officer, added: 'Our latest research demonstrates the unrivalled impact of UK higher education across the world. Despite recent challenges, UK universities should remain upbeat that students who have studied in UK are having in impact as statespeople across the world.' The education secretary, Bridget Phillipson, has previously said of the crisis facing the sector: 'The dire situation we inherited has meant this government must take tough decisions to put universities on a firmer financial footing, so they can deliver more opportunity for students and growth for our economy.'
The Guardian
21-02-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
Caribbean leaders vow to maintain pursuit of slavery reparations
Caribbean leaders have defended the region's pursuit of slavery reparations, describing the compensation for centuries of enslavement and oppression as a matter of simple justice. Speaking to the Guardian at the Caribbean Community (Caricom) heads of government meeting in Barbados, the Antigua and Barbuda prime minister, Gaston Browne, said Caribbean states were not seeking 'a handout'. 'What we're seeking here is a final resolution of this issue and a reset in the relationship between the Caribbean and Europe – one in which there's an apology for the wrongs of their forebears, and at the same time, some form of restitution,' he said. Between the 15th and the 19th century, more than 12.5 million Africans were kidnapped, forcibly transported to the Americas and sold into slavery. Browne said: 'Our forebears were treated as chattels, they worked for hundreds of years and were not paid. That created a debt, along with the fact that resources of the Caribbean and the profits of these resources were sent to Europe, to North America, to build their cities, their universities, to develop the technologies, to advance their economies, and they left the Caribbean region bereft of necessary institutions for development – not even have proper educational facilities or healthcare facilities.' The issue of transatlantic slavery reparations dominated headlines in October when the British prime minister, Keir Starmer, resisted pressure from member states to include reparations on the agenda at the Commonwealth summit. The move has triggered months of criticism and speculation about Britain's engagement with Caribbean nations on the topic. Browne's sentiments were echoed by the St Vincent and the Grenadines prime minister, Ralph Gonsalves, who was a founding member of the Caribbean reparations movement. 'Reparations are about addressing the legacies of underdevelopment which have been caused by native genocide and the enslavement of African bodies. We are asking those who benefited from slavery – including the European countries – for some recompense, some reparation, some repairing,' he said. Confirming reports that Caricom's 10-point plan for reparatory justice was being updated, he said that the slavery reparations movement is making progress: 'It's [been] raised in the US Congress, in the European Union and the British parliament, and the archbishop of Canterbury has addressed it, families from the past have addressed it. People thought when it started it was some little fringe thing, but it is moving to centre stage.' Exact reparations figures have not been agreed, the leaders said, but the focus now is on constructive collaboration on the issue, which they confirmed was raised during closed meetings on Thursday, which were also attended by the UN secretary general, António Guterres, and the European Commission president, Ursula von der Leyen,. In his final address as Caricom chairman, the Grenadian prime minister, Dickon Mitchell, said: 'Your excellency, Ursula von der Leyen, I don't mean to be impolite, but I will say to you that the issue of reparations for the transatlantic slavery … is an issue that we will take up with you.' He stressed that Caricom's demand for reparations was not just about historical redress but about securing a commitment to justice that would prevent any form of human exploitation in the future. 'As long as we do not openly and explicitly reject the idea that one human being can own another human being, we run the risk that that idea may somehow take root again and be allowed to flourish,' he warned. 'And so, as descendants of people who fought for their freedom from chattel slavery, we owe it to ourselves and to future generations of humanity to ensure that the transatlantic slave trade and the enslavement of Africans in the Caribbean, Latin, Central, South and North America is accepted as a crime against humanity and that the appropriate apology and compensation is paid.' Mitchell also cited the issue of chattel slavery as he advocated for continued support of Haiti, where rampant gang war has plunged the country into bloody anarchy. 'Make no mistake, Haiti symbolises the revolution that changed this part of the world,' Mitchell said. 'Had it not been for Haiti, the idea that one human being could own another human being as chattel slavery and put him to work for their profit may very well still be persisting. 'And so we owe it to that island, all of us who are freed – the descendants of freed men and women who fought for their freedom – to ensure that we continue supporting and advocating for the partnership and the support to bring Haiti back from the brink.'
