Britain needs to review its policy in relation to criminal deportees to Caribbean terrorities as regional police forces are not capable of responding to the sophisticated methods utilized by them, President Bharrat Jagdeo says.

Speaking to reporters in Uganda yesterday, Jagdeo emphasized the need for Britain to review its policy in relation to criminal deportees to Caribbean territories, the Government Information Agency (GINA) stated in a news release.

The President, who is currently in Kampala, Uganda attending the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting which opened yesterday also participated in a number of sideline meetings including one with British Prime Minister Gordon Brown during which major focus was placed on the issue of criminal deportees to Caribbean territories and the impact this has been having on the crime rate in the countries.

The release said Jagdeo believes that the large influx of deportees to the Caribbean has seen a change in the nature of crime, with criminals using more sophisticated methods to carry out their activities. “When the sophisticated criminals came back and started infusing our society with the advanced techniques in crime, our police forces (the Caribbean region) were not capable of responding, so now we have to restructure our police force,” the President was quoted as saying.

He added that when the large numbers of criminals were deported, Caribbean countries were “caught flat-footed” since “our police services and forces across the region were accustomed to an old method of policing.

“We had not evolved with the nature of crime around the world – our police forces – and in Guyana’s case, we are looking at several things: building greater forensic capability, investigative capability and intelligence because it has to be an intelligence-led fight against criminals.”

GINA said Jagdeo’s assertions on the issue were similar to those of Dominican Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit who represented Dominica at the forum. The release said both feel that the issue of criminal deportees from the UK is cause for major concern and they believe that it is time for Britain to review its policy on the matter. It added that the Prime Minister feels that the problem is a Caribbean one and that many of the deportees are naturalized citizens of the UK.

“So, you are sending out the criminals and taking all the trained people, so let us discuss