Seychelles remains a trusted partner in fight against maritime crime, says Minister Bastienne |18 April 2015

“Seychelles remains a trusted partner in the fight against maritime crime.”

 

Home Affairs Minister Charles Bastienne made this statement during the 13th United Nations congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice held in Doha, Qatar during the course of this week.

The high level meeting, organised by the United National Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC) was attended by delegates from many countries, including those the region, and other international organisations.

When addressing the delegates on Wednesday, Minister Bastienne explained that even if “the intensity of maritime piracy threat has decreased remarkably”, the whole world should remain vigilant at all times as other forms of maritime crime such as narcotics trafficking, people trafficking and other forms of trafficking are emerging to fill the void.

To recall, Seychelles took the bold lead in the fight of piracy when this maritime scourge was at its peak. Proper structures and legislations were put in place and the minister explained that this was possible thanks to foreign expertise and help.

He said Seychelles is ready to help the Global Maritime Crime Programme of the UNODC to overcome the new threats and challenges which can affect our maritime domain.

“Through the establishment of REFLECS3 (Regional Fusion and Law Enforcement Centre for Safety and Security at Sea) located in Victoria, Seychelles has the necessary infrastructure and potential capacity to develop a regional information sharing mechanism on maritime crime,” he added.

In his address the minister also stressed on the importance of cooperating and sharing of information with our counterparts in the region in order to have a better understanding of the maritime surface picture, given the vastness of the ocean space around us.

“Seychelles is committed to develop REFLCES3 as a regional centre for information sharing and coordination,” said the minister
On the sideline of this 13th United Nation congress on Crime Prevention and Criminal Justice Minister Bastienne also held talks with Yury Fedotov, executive director of UNODC, as well as other representatives from this UN body and also with other international organisations present at this meeting.