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1. Persistent Perils: Illicit MANPADS in the MENA Region

Author:
Matt Schroeder
Publication Date:
04-2024
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Small Arms Survey
Abstract:
Since 1970, armed groups have hit dozens of civilian aircraft with man-portable air defence systems (MANPADS), killing more than 1,000 civilians. The international community has taken numerous steps to reduce illicit proliferation, but armed groups in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region continue to acquire and use these systems. Persistent Perils: Illicit MANPADS in the MENA Region—a new Report from the Small Arms Survey’s Security Assessment In North Africa (SANA) project—provides an in-depth analysis of the proliferation of MANPADS in North Africa and the Middle East from 2015–23. Drawing on imagery and data collected since 2015 to identify the type, model, generation, and country of design/manufacture of illicit MANPADS in the region, the Report assesses the implications of recent proliferation patterns for regional security and international norms and agreements.
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation, Armed Forces, Weapons, Trafficking, and MANPADS
Political Geography:
Middle East and North Africa

2. Between Tradition and the Law: Artisanal Firearm Production in West Africa

Author:
Julien Joly and Aline Shaban
Publication Date:
11-2023
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Small Arms Survey
Abstract:
Craft firearms are deeply embedded in West Africa’s culture and history, often being used for hunting, livestock protection, and in traditional ceremonies. However, these firearms are increasingly being used in crimes and civil disturbance. Between Tradition and The Law: Artisanal Firearm Production in West Africa—a new Briefing Paper from the Small Arms Survey’s Craft Weapons in Africa: State of Play and Regulatory Approaches project—provides an overview of regional trends about the production of craft firearms, and their regulatory frameworks. It also calls for further additional research on the methods of production as well as on the trafficking dynamics of these types of weapons.
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation, Culture, Regulation, Weapons, and Trafficking
Political Geography:
West Africa

3. Out of Control: The Trafficking of Improvised Explosive Device Components and Commercial Explosives in West Africa

Author:
Small Arms Survey
Publication Date:
11-2023
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Small Arms Survey
Abstract:
The use of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) in West Africa expanded dramatically over the last decade. IED-building networks have established material and training links across conflict areas in West and Central Africa, and their designs have remained constant and inexpensive throughout the region—helping to increase their use in attacks against domestic and international security forces, UN peacekeepers, and civilians. Out of Control: The Trafficking of Improvised Explosive Device Components and Commercial Explosives in West Africa—a new report from the Small Arms Survey’s Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) in West Africa project—analyses data from more than 2,200 IED-related incidents between March 2013 and September 2022, and stresses the importance of coordinated regional approaches in eliminating illegal IED use in West and Central Africa.
Topic:
Security, Weapons, Trafficking, Armed Conflict, and IED
Political Geography:
West Africa and Central Africa

4. Migration and Decent Work: Challenges for the Global South

Author:
Lucía Ramírez Bolívar and Jessica Corredor Villamil
Publication Date:
03-2022
Content Type:
Book
Institution:
Dejusticia
Abstract:
Migration and Decent Work: Challenges for the Global South features nine chapters written by sixteen activists, academics, and members of civil society who have worked on the issue of migration from different angles and who address the challenge of migrants’ labor inclusion from an interdisciplinary and rights-based perspective. Their contributions offer an overview of migrants’ and refugees’ right to work in a range of countries in the global South—from Mexico to India to Argentina to Turkey—based on an analysis of local contexts, public policies, and the everyday realities faced by these workers.
Topic:
Migration, Labor Issues, Refugees, Trafficking, Asylum, Inclusion, Domestic Work, and Sex Work
Political Geography:
South Asia, Middle East, South America, and Global South

5. Criminal Groups and a Decade of Displacement in Central America and Mexico

Author:
David James Cantor
Publication Date:
09-2022
Content Type:
Working Paper
Institution:
Brown Journal of World Affairs
Abstract:
Organized criminal groups in the North of Central America and Mexico (NCAM) make global news headlines. 3e bloody reputation of drug tra4cking structures from Mexico during the past decade rivals the global infamy of Colom- bian groups such as the Medellín and Cali cartels during the 1980s and 1990s. Brutal gangs in the North of Central America (NCA)—formed by the countries of El Salvador, Honduras, and Guatemala—have even served as a bogey-man in presidential campaigns in the United States during the 2010s.1 But what about the predicament of the people living in the zones to which organized criminal groups lay claim? Much has been written about the levels of violence to which these populations are exposed; however, what is less understood, even today, is how the aggressive activities of organized criminal groups have produced waves of internal and external displacement and the implications of this displacement for the global community. 3is paper draws on research conducted by the author over the past decade to re5ect on the crisis of forced displacement that has a6ected these populations in the NCAM during the 2010s. 3e paper analyzes statistical data concern- ing refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs) to o6er observations on the scale of displacement within the NCAM and across borders; the diverse organized criminal groups that generate di6erent but overlapping dynamics of displacement; and the response in law and policy to this displacement within these countries and in the Americas more generally. Finally, this paper ends by arguing that the displacement in the NCAM has important implications not only for those countries but for the Americas and at the global level, as well.
Topic:
Crime, Trafficking, Displacement, and Cartels
Political Geography:
Central America, North America, and Mexico

6. The Challenge of Coordinating Border Management Assistance between Europe and the Maghreb

Author:
Matt Herbert
Publication Date:
03-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Migration Policy Institute (MPI)
Abstract:
Europe’s border security needs and interests do not stop at its frontiers. Over the last 25 years, the European Union and its Member States have increasingly partnered with and relied on neighboring countries to mitigate cross-border challenges, ranging from irregular migration to drug trafficking and terrorism. Within this transnational architecture, the states of the Maghreb—Algeria, Morocco, and Tunisia—have come to play a critical role. Cultivating cooperation with these countries and building their border security capacity have become vital concerns for European policymakers. This Transatlantic Council on Migration report examines the border security situation within the Maghreb, including Maghrebi states’ cross-border priorities and the structural factors impeding the development of better border security. It then takes stock of efforts by the European Union and its Member States to work with partners in the region to address border security challenges and offers lessons learned from experiences to date. “While they have little choice but to engage,” the report’s author writes, “European states have great latitude in deciding how they engage with Maghrebi states.” To be effective, this cooperation must be shaped not only around European policy aims but also the needs and interests of governments and citizens in Morocco, Algeria, and Tunisia.
Topic:
International Cooperation, Science and Technology, Infrastructure, Governance, Border Control, European Union, Trafficking, Smuggling, and Illegal Immigration
Political Geography:
Europe and North Africa

7. Extracting Evidence: Opportunities and Obstacles in Assessing the Gendered Impacts of Diverted Ammunition

Author:
Emile LeBrun, André Desmarais, Kheira Djouhri, and Nicolas Florquin
Publication Date:
05-2022
Content Type:
Policy Brief
Institution:
Small Arms Survey
Abstract:
Ammunition diverted from legal to illicit markets is a central concern in small arms control, but its impact is understudied. A new Briefing Paper from the Small Arms Survey and the UN Office for Disarmament Affairs explores how authorities can go about better monitoring the role it plays in violent crime. Extracting Evidence: Opportunities and Obstacles in Assessing the Gendered Impacts of Diverted Ammunition unpacks the challenges involved in trying to assess the true costs of ammunition diverted from official stockpiles. The study describes contextual background, notes the limitations of ammunition profiling research to date, and presents findings from a pilot case study on ammunition profiling in Kosovo* as well as insights from ammunition marking policy in Brazil. It finds that authorities struggle to identify what materiel among seized ammunition has been diverted from official stockpiles, which in turn prevents the ability to truly assess the impact it has on men, women, boys, and girls. The study identifies measures for overcoming such monitoring challenges, including special marking practices for state-destined ammunition, headstamp data collection guidelines, and information sharing protocols between relevant agencies for ammunition recovered from crime scenes.
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation, Crime, Trafficking, Gender, and Ammunition
Political Geography:
Europe and Kosovo

8. Missing or Unseen? Exploring Women’s Roles in Arms Trafficking

Author:
Emilia Dungel and Anne-Séverine Fabre
Publication Date:
06-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Small Arms Survey
Abstract:
The roles of women in arms trafficking have been addressed in broader studies focusing on issues like violent extremism prevention, women offenders, political activism, and transnational crime in relation to drug trafficking and human trafficking. However, there has been little research on this subject from a specific small arms control perspective. Missing or Unseen? Exploring Women’s Roles in Arms Trafficking strives to fill this gap, and examines the extent to which well-established small arms research methods—general population surveys, key informant interviews, and court documentation reviews—can be used to explore arms trafficking through a gender lens. The Report applies these methods in the form of three case studies—in Niger, Ukraine*, and the United States. It finds that the combined use of these methods does help to shed light on specific aspects of women in arms trafficking, such as their varied roles, which include high-risk activities and, in a few cases, leadership positions. The study also offers a number of suggestions for future research in this area.
Topic:
Crime, Women, Arms Trade, and Trafficking
Political Geography:
Africa, Europe, Ukraine, North America, Niger, and United States of America

9. Mexico Peace Index 2022: Identifying and measuring the factors that drive peace

Author:
Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP)
Publication Date:
01-2022
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP)
Abstract:
This is the ninth edition of the Mexico Peace Index (MPI), produced by the Institute for Economics & Peace (IEP). It provides a comprehensive measure of peacefulness in Mexico, including trends, analysis and estimates of the economic impact of violence in the country. The MPI is based on the Global Peace Index, the world’s leading measure of global peacefulness, produced by IEP every year since 2007. The MPI consists of 12 sub-indicators aggregated into five broader indicators.
Topic:
Corruption, Crime, Economics, Trafficking, Peace, Drugs, Data, and Organized Crime
Political Geography:
North America and Mexico

10. Making the Rounds: Illicit Ammunition in Ukraine

Author:
Matt Schroeder and Olena Shumska
Publication Date:
01-2021
Content Type:
Special Report
Institution:
Small Arms Survey
Abstract:
Making the Rounds: Illicit Ammunition in Ukraine finds that thousands of hand grenades, rockets, mortar rounds, landmines, and tins of firearms cartridges have proliferated throughout Ukraine, including to areas located far from the conflict zone in the east. Presenting findings from a comprehensive review of imagery and information on illicit ammunition trafficked to, from, and within Ukraine, the report includes an analysis of markings on more than 1,600 seized hand grenades, shoulder-fired rockets, ammunition tins, and anti-personnel landmines. The report reveals the types and sources of illicit ammunition in the country, as well as the modes of transport and smuggling techniques used by Ukrainian arms traffickers and their co-conspirators abroad. The analysis shows that the overwhelming majority of the 1,600 items analyzed were Soviet-designed models produced in Eastern European and Soviet factories prior to the dissolution of the USSR. Curbing the threat to local and regional security posed by this ammunition requires a long-term, coordinated effort by Ukrainian authorities and the international community.
Topic:
Arms Control and Proliferation, Weapons, Arms Trade, and Trafficking
Political Geography:
Europe and Ukraine