this presentation is based on the regional security system which was an attempt of CARICOM in Regional Integration of the Caribbean..

1. Regional Integration
background
to
Regional Security System

2. VISION:
To preserve the peace and stability in the
region by delivering world class,
professional, effective and efficient
services through cooperative engagement
with Partner Nations.

3. MISSION STATEMENT
To ensure the stability and well-being of Member States
through mutual cooperation in order to maximize regional
security in preserving the social and economic development of
our people.

4. The Regional Security System was created out of a need for
collective response to security threats, which were
impacting on the stability of the region in the late 70’s and
early 80’s. Its express function is to ensure the stability and
well being of the Eastern Caribbean region through mutual
cooperation, in order to achieve social and economic
development and to maintain the principles of democracy,
liberty of the individual and rule of law

5. History: Background
 In October 1982, four members of the Organisation of
the Eastern Caribbean States, namely, Antigua&
Barbuda, Dominica, St. Lucia and St. Vincent and the
Grenadines, signed a Memorandum of Understanding
(MOU) with Barbados to provide for "mutual
assistance on request".
 St. Kitts and Nevis joined after gaining independence
in September 1983 and Grenada in January 1985. The
MOU was updated in 1992 and the RSS acquired
juridical status in March 1996 by way of the Treaty
which was signed in St. Georges, Grenada.
memorandum of
understanding
(MOU)
A memorandum of
understanding
(MoU) describes a
bilateral or
multilateral
agreement between
two or more
parties.

6.  The memorandum made provisions for a fast moving non-
bureaucratic organization which could react to the security
needs of Member States if requested.
 This was first demonstrated in October 1983 when, together
with the military forces of the United States of America and
Jamaica, the RSS deployed troops to Grenada to restore
democracy after a period of political upheaval.
 This intervention would have been impossible without the
mutual cooperation and understanding which is characteristic
of the Regional Security System response mechanism found in
the Memorandum of Understanding and later on in the Treaty
Establishing the RSS.
 The Regional Security System is a "hybrid" organization, in that
its security forces comprise both military and police personnel
who remain under the command of their respective Heads.

7.  Under the RSS, a member state whose security was threatened or who
needed other kinds of emergency assistance could call on other
member states. According to the Memorandum of Understanding,
members were obliged "to prepare contingency plans and assist one
another on request in national emergencies and threats to national
security.
 Threats to national security covered by the memorandum included
armed insurgencies, mercenary actions, army mutinies, armed seizure
of facilities by insurgents, and armed secession attempts by smaller
islands. The security arrangement also provided for cooperation in
areas such as natural disasters, pollution control, maritime policing
duties, smuggling prevention, search-and-rescue operations,
immigration, customs and excise control, and fisheries protection.

8.  The RSS plan called for creation of an eighty-member paramilitary
Special Service Unit (SSU) on each island. In a crisis, the SSUs would
be coordinated by an RSS operations room at BDF headquarters at St.
Ann's Fort in Bridgetown, Barbados, headed by the RSS coordinator, a
Barbadian . BDF chief of staff Brigadier Rudyard Lewis was elected to
serve as the first RSS coordinator. The coordinator reported to the
Council of Ministers, which was composed of those government
officials entrusted with security in each member country. In a meeting
held on February 19, 1983, in Castries, St. Lucia, the heads of
government of St. Lucia, Barbados, Dominica, Antigua and Barbuda,
and St. Vincent and the Grenadines finalized arrangements for the
RSS.
 Nevertheless, security issues became of overriding concern in the
region as a result of the crisis in Grenada in October 1983.

9. LOCATION
 The RSS Headquarters, located in Barbados, the Secretariat of the
RSS, is headed by an Executive Director who reports to the Council of
Ministers. Reference article 7(3) of the Treaty Establishing the
Regional Security System(RSS) (1996), the Executive Director is
responsible for the general administration of the System.

10. Purposes & Functions RSS
RSS Treaty states the mandate of the RSS as follows:
 Prevention and interdiction of traffic in illegal narcotics
 Response to National Emergencies/Disasters
 Regional Search and Rescue
 Maritime Policing Duties
 Fisheries Protection
 Customs and Excise Control
 Immigration Control
 Pollution Control
 Protection of Exclusive Economic Zones
 Combatting Threats to National Security

11.  Traditionally, the RSS was concerned with traditional security
threats of an operational nature namely illicit drugs and arms
trafficking and internal security.
 However, given the dynamism within the international security
environment, the Executive Director, guided by the provisions
in the Treaty Establishing the RSS (1996), has embraced the
need to have a clear understanding of other non-traditional
criminogenic environments which undoubtedly affect the
national security of Member States.
 This has led to the establishment of new departments at the
RSS Headquarters to carry out research on areas affecting
national security, as well as analysing the crime patterns and
trends, in order to establish evidence-based programmes to
assist Member States in coping with the dynamics of national
development.

12. DISASTER/EMERGENCY RESPONSE
RSS Headquarters coordinates response to Member States in
times of disaster or emergency conditions. It also
coordinates Disaster Response on behalf of the Caribbean
Disaster Emergency Management Agency (CDEMA) through
activation of the CARICOM Disaster Relief Unit (CDRU).
CDRU comprises members of the DefFence and Police Forces
and Fire Services of CARICOM Member States

13. TRIGGERS FOR RSS MOBALISATION
 Combating Threats to National Security
 Prevention and Interdiction of traffic in Illegal Narcotic Drugs
 Response to National Emergencies / Disasters
 Regional Search and Rescue
 Immigration control
 Fisheries Protection
 Customs & Excise Control
 Maritime Policing Duties
 Natural and Other Disasters
 Pollution Control
 Prevention of Smuggling
 Large or High Scale Security Operations

14.  Protection of Off-shore Installations and Exclusive
Economic Zones
 Breakdown of Law & Order
 Terriost Incidents/Activities
 Armed Insurrection
 Drug Interdiction
 Search & Rescue Operations
 Pollution Incidents

15. PLANNING FOR MOBALISATION
 The RSS Headquarters , under the directions of the Executive
Director remains responsible
 Operational Planning may commence days or even weeks in advance or may
be immediate
 Plans may be precautionary in nature
 It is vital to establish and carefully define mission parameters for RSS Forces
 Consultation is conducted between the Executive Director and the impacted
Government and/or Security Chief of the requesting State
 Deployed forces are OPCONED to the Security Chief of the requesting state

16. PARTNER NATIONS
 Brazil
 Canada
 CARICOM Member States
 Dutch Territories in the Caribbean
 French Territories in the Caribbean
 United Kingdom
 UK Overseas Territories
 United States of America

18. OPERATIONS
 RSS Air Wing
 RSS Coast Guard
 Land Forces

19. Land Forces
 The Regional Security System (RSS) was involved in its first major operation
one year after its inception when in 1983, the RSS forces was among the first
to land in Grenada during the intervention operation. This provided the RSS
with its ultimate test and one which it proved equal.
 In July 1990 the attempted coup in Trinidad saw the RSS mobilize a force to
support the democratic government and, although they were not utilized, the
reaction and mobilization were remarkable.
 In 1989 Hurricane HUGO set another challenge and the Forces of the region
played a vital role in the disaster relief operation. The receipt and dispatch
of relief supplies were coordinated by the RSS and the international relief
agencies were extremely grateful for the organization that the RSS provided
in a traditionally chaotic area of disaster relief. The concept of the CARICOM
Disaster Relief Unit (CDRU) was born out of response to hurricane HUGO.

20. 1983 - The Grenada Intervention Operation
1989 - Hurricane Hugo in Antigua, St. Kitts and Nevis and Montserrat
1990 - The aftermath of the attempted Coup in Trinidad and Tobago
1994 - St Kitts and Nevis - Internal Security (Prison uprising situation)
1995 - Hurricanes Luis and Marilyn in Antigua and St. Kitts and Nevis
1998 - Hurricane Georges in St. Kitts and Nevis
1998 - St Vincent and the Grenadines - Operation Weedeater (eradication of
cannabis)
2003 - St Lucia - Operation Bordelais (Transfer of prisoners to new prison)
2004 - Grenada - Hurricane Ivan
2005- Barbados - Operation Restore Peace
2007 - CWC 07 in RSS Member States
2010 - Haiti - Operation Restore Comfort