France Blacklists Dominica

Two Caribbean Community (CARICOM) countries, including oil-rich Trinidad and Tobago, are included in a list of countries blacklisted by France that do not help investigate foreign aid fraud.

French officials said the list, which also includes Dominica, was drawn up after Paris decided that it would also be banning the use of their banks to help distribute development funds.

Aides to Development Minister Pascal Canfin were unable to say how much French foreign aid currently transits via banks in the countries featured on the new blacklist.

The blacklist expands on an already-established register of eight "non-cooperative states and territories" that already includes Botswana, Brunei, Nauru, Guatemala and the Philippines. The list now includes Switzerland, Lebanon, Panama, Costa Rica, the United Arab Emirates, Dominica, Liberia, Trinidad and Tobago, and Vanuatu.

Speaking to the press last week, Prime Minister Roosevelt Skerrit said his government was unaware that France was considering his country to be black-listed and that France acted in ignorance. Skerrit said his government is taking up the matter with the French government.