UN Caribbean report shows feelings of insecurity highest in Suriname, Guyana

(de Ware Tijd) PARAMARIBO – A UN survey of seven Caribbean countries shows that the fear of becoming a crime victim is highest among Surinamese. Twenty-five percent of the population says it is afraid of becoming a target of burglary, while 17.9% fears robbery. On the other hand, Surinamese feel safest, followed by Barbadians. Justice Minister Martin Misiedjan will attend presentation of the Caribbean Human Development Report 2012 in Port-of-Spain today. The report has been compiled by the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). Social scientist and public administration expert August Boldewijn says statistics on crime and feelings of insecurity must be considered separately. Statistics are compilations of facts, while the feeling of insecurity is something psychological.  It involves what people feel based on their experiences and what is happening in society. He says it is difficult to alleviate feelings of insecurity in people. The government can only take harsh measures against crime, with the community seeing clear results and noticing that criminals are caught, convicted and imprisoned. Parliamentarian Shailendra Girjasing (VHP) has no use for the crime statistics presented by Minister Misiedjan to Parliament on Monday. He even has doubts about those and suspects not every crime is being reported to the police or in the press. When it comes to feelings of insecurity, Suriname is followed by Guyana, where 24.5% of the population fears burglaries and Antigua and Barbuda with 22.4%. At least 46% of all respondents in the seven countries state they feel ‘safe’ to ‘very safe’, in contrast to the 48% who claim to feel unsafe. The feeling of safety varies from a low 25% in Trinidad and Tobago to a high 79% in Barbados.