Caribbean Community (Caricom) leaders have embarked on a justified mission against crime and violence which, we hope, will be supported by the region’s law-abiding citizens who, we know, account for the majority of our population.

Indeed, Caribbean people are known the world over for their warmth and generosity — distinguishing qualities that have contributed significantly to the success of the region’s tourism industry and have lured many people from outside the region to settle here.

So, when heartless scum threaten that reality and, even worse, make life miserable and risky for the region’s people, we cannot sit and throw our hands up in despair. We must fight back and make it clear that evil will not be allowed to conquer good.

Therefore the two-day regional symposium on violence, held by Caricom leaders in Trinidad this week, is a good first step towards taking back our region from criminals.

At the end of the symposium the leaders — who quite rightly focused on the fact that crime is also a public health issue — declared their intention to combat the trade in illegal guns, which, as they correctly noted, “provides the weapons that contribute significantly to crime and violence in our region”.

Additionally, the leaders agreed to implement a ban on assault rifles — a decision that got our attention as we are interested to hear what measures will be put in place to achieve that ideal.

At the heart of this long-running problem is the willingness of US authorities to do more to stem the flow of illegal guns from that country to the region.

We were therefore encouraged when, in December 2021, the then US deputy assistant secretary for Caribbean Affairs and Haiti in the Bureau of Western Hemisphere Affairs Mr Mark Wells told this newspaper that the problem of the trade in illegal firearms in the region is being given special attention by the current US Administration.

“Illegal arms trafficking is a significant issue for us throughout the Americas,” Mr Wells said then, “We deal with this issue in several countries. Some of those guns come directly from the United States, some arrive through secondary illegal sources. I know that they come from other countries and are often associated with drug trafficking and other forms of international crime.”

America, he said, is working with Jamaica and other countries in the region to try to control those flows as the US accepts that it is a shared responsibility.

We have no reason to doubt Washington’s commitment in this matter. We believe, though, that more needs to be done as illegal weapons are still coming into the region, fuelling what Caricom leaders rightly labelled an “epidemic of crime and violence”.

But even as we support the call for more assistance from the US, we must acknowledge that our borders are still too porous, despite significant Government investment, particularly here in Jamaica, to increase and improve security. That is an issue we cannot avoid addressing.

The other measures agreed by the Caricom leaders, among them the immediate and effective implementation of the Caricom Arrest Warrant Treaty and the establishment of an entity under the Caricom Implementing Agency for Crime and Security to combat corruption and financial crimes, are more than overdue.

We all have work to do. The criminals must not win.