What the Caribbean’s spiralling crime rates mean for your holiday

 

For all their charm, the pristine beaches of the Caribbean have always been slightly at odds with the reality of life in the region. This situation is helped by the fact that tourism remains the lifeblood of local economies – and is typically insulated from the high crime rates, civil unrest and political instability.

Could that be about to change? Over the past year, a rising tide of experts and law enforcement agencies have been sounding their alarms about a surge in violent crime across the Caribbean, including in countries usually regarded as tourist paradises.

In response to the violence, some governments are resorting to dramatic moves to restore order. Just last week, the government in Trinidad and Tobago extended its “state of emergency” which grants extra powers to police in order to stem gang violence. 

This isn’t the first time the region has seen instability, with previous waves doing little to dent tourism. So are tourists at risk? Here’s our guide to what you need to know. 

What is happening in the Caribbean?

Given that the Caribbean comprises 33 separate political entities (13 of which are sovereign states), any assessment is always going to involve a degree of oversimplification. Yet several authoritative measures point to a general increase in violence across the region – particularly in concentrated urban areas.

The problem has been acknowledged by Caribbean leaders themselves. Last year, several government heads issued a joint statement warning about increased levels of crime “fuelled in part by firearms and ammunition trafficking, transnational criminal networks, and a deterioration of social structures”.

Judging by the official indicators, they are right to be concerned, with countries across the region reporting a spike in homicides. Of the 20 countries with the highest murder rates, 12 are Caribbean islands. In the Turks and Caicos Islands and St Vincent and the Grenadines, the number of killings in 2023 was 50 per cent and 63 per cent higher, respectively, than in 2019. In St Kitts and Nevis, the murder rate has soared by 121 per cent over the same period.

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