RSS remains dedicated to securing region

THE Regional Security System (RSS) is celebrating 35 years in its support to Member States with the building of a secure and prosperous region for their citizens as well as visitors to their shores.

The RSS was created out of a need for a collective response to security threats, which were impacting on the stability of the region. On October 29, 1982, four members of the Organisation of Eastern Caribbean States, namely Antigua and Barbuda, Dominica, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Barbados, to provide for mutual assistance on request.

St. Kitts and Nevis joined after gaining independence in September 1983 and Grenada in January 1985. The MOU was updated in 1992, and the RSS acquired juridical status on March 5, 1996, by way of a Treaty, which was signed in St. George’s, Grenada.

Delivering remarks at a service to mark the anniversary, Chairman of the Security System’s Council of Ministers, Senator Hermangild Francis, who is also Minister of Home Affairs, Legal Affairs and National Security in St. Lucia, outlined that according to Article 4 (1) of the Treaty, the purposes and functions of the System are to promote co-operation among Member States in the prevention and interdiction of traffic in illegal narcotic drugs, in national emergencies, search and rescue, immigration control, and fisheries protection.

Customs and excise control, maritime policing duties, natural and other disasters, pollution control, combating threats to national security, the prevention of smuggling, and in the protection of offshore installations and exclusive economic zones, are also included in the Treaty.

“The RSS also has additional responsibilities to the wider CARICOM region as indicated under the Treaty on Security Assistance (TSA). The TSA identifies RSS Headquarters as part of the regional response mechanism.

“RSS Headquarters, which is located in Barbados, is the Co-ordinating Secretariat of the CARICOM Security Assistance Mechanism. As a result, the Executive Director [who is currently Captain (N) Errington Shurland] is the Co-ordinator of the Security Assistance Mechanism and a member of the Joint Strategic Co-ordinating and Planning Committee,” he informed.

The role and functions of the RSS, as a unique international security organisation, paved the way for its critical participation in the development, maintenance and review of effective security policies and operations in the Anglophone Caribbean, in pursuit of sustainable, inclusive economic development initiatives of Member States.

“Adhering doggedly to that philosophy, teamwork has enabled us to build capacity on a continuous basis in our Member States’ Security Forces, as well as to assist in protecting the domestic space of these states for the past 35 years.

“In fact, I would venture to say that RSS stands as a bastion of co-operation in the protection of democratic values in our sub-region. I daresay that this has been more evident in the year 1983, when RSS Forces, ably assisted by the US Security, took action to stabilise the island of Grenada, thereby returning peace and democracy to its people,” he explained.

Minister Francis further stated that with the ever-changing nature of security, it has been made possible for the System to evolve and expand its role to fit the needs of small island developing states in the 21st century.

He said from the System’s first major mobilisation in Grenada in 1983 to security assistance provided to the Government of St. Kitts and Nevis in 2016, RSS has continuously proven its dedication to the region in the quest to maintain the principles of democracy, civil liberties and the rule of law.

“The co-operative nature of the RSS proves to be the most profound worldwide, as the RSS Treaty, devised and ratified by our then political stalwarts, ensured that issues surrounding sovereignty and bureaucratic wrangling, would not inhibit the co-operative nature of the RSS in operational and strategic matters.

“In fact, this strong co-operative approach, fuelled by trust among our Member States, has resulted in the RSS achieving a myriad of successes in counterdrug policy and operations, increased integrity and credibility of state security institutions, as well as the improvement in the efficiency and effectiveness of our security institutions, through increased training opportunities as the building of the human resource of our police, military, correctional services and fire departments,” he said. (AH)