A report in the online network Cyber Diver News Network (CDNN) says Trinidad and Tobago has now become the murder capital of the world and one of the most violent places in the world.It notes that the steady rise in violent crime, including an alarming increase in homicides, has pushed it ahead of Jamaica, where it says homicides increased two per cent in 2008, while it was up "a staggering 38 per cent in Trinidad and Tobago".
The article acknowledges that much of the violence is gang-related, but it also notes that in recent years tourists have increasingly become targets for robbery, sexual assault and murder.
In October 2008, a Swedish couple was chopped to death in their hotel room in Tobago. And last month two British females were robbed and sexually assaulted by an intruder who forced his way into their holiday apartment.
The U.S. and the UK issued travel advisories warning travelers about increasing violence and the failure of police in Tobago to apprehend and prosecute criminals, the report said.
It quotes a travel advisory issued by the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office in October 2008 that states: "You should be aware that there are high levels of violent crime, especially shootings and kidnappings...British nationals have been victims of violent attacks, particularly in Tobago where law enforcement is weak."
It also refers to a U.S. travel advisory issued about the same time warning that armed robbers have been trailing tourists as they depart international airports in Trinidad and Tobago.
"Violent crimes, including assault, kidnapping for ransom, sexual assault and murder, have involved foreign residents and tourists (and) incidents have been reported involving armed robbers trailing arriving passengers from the airport and accosting them in remote areas...the perpetrators of many of these crimes have not been arrested."
The article quotes from the Economist, which has reported that the English-speaking Caribbean averages 30 murders per 100,000 inhabitants per year, one of the highest rates in the world.
By comparison, the murder rate in both Canada and the UK is about two per 100,000.
The Trinidad and Tobago figure is more alarming. The article says with 550 homicides in 2008, Trinidad and Tobago has a rate of about 55 murders per 100,000 "making it the most dangerous country in the Caribbean and one of the most dangerous in the world."
It adds that the rate of "assaults, robbery, kidnapping and rape in Trinidad and Tobago is also among the highest in the world."
It says a report issued by the United States State Department states that gang-related homicides and other crimes will continue to increase in Trinidad and Tobago in 2009 and 2010.
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