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"Trafficking"
Recommended research
published by Roberto Sollazzo and Matthias Nowak, Small Arms Survey
on November 12, 2020
Expanded militant Islamist group activity combined with increased wealth from artisanal gold mining in the tri-border region between Mali, Côte d’Ivoire, and Burkina Faso has heightened the risks of insecurity, fueling demand for illicit small arms. This scenario may degenerate into a self-perpetuating cycle where the availability of arms sparks further insecurity, pressuring communities to seek more firepower for self-defense or retaliation. Community members frequently participate smuggling and trafficking as informants, providers of storage, and subcontractors for the repair of motorcycles, etc. Law enforcement activities must balance against the possibility of disrupting income streams to already poor border communities, or they risk pushing some actors further into the criminal economy perpetuating this cycle.
Recommended research
published by Peter Tinti, ENACT
on September 30, 2020
Despite 8 years of violent insurgency in northern Mali, the region continues to be a transit zone for regional and global drug-trafficking networks. The networks have endured by ingratiating themselves with a rotating cast of actors whose tactics are based on pragmatic local conditions rather than ideology. For example, an implicit nonaggression pact among key elements of the CMA, Plateforme, and jihadist groups enables traffickers to continue unmolested. International partners should help regional governments better understand and dismantle these networks.
Recommended research
published by Lucia Bird & Tuesday Reitano, ENACT
on December 31, 2019
In countries experiencing protracted conflict, state-centric approaches to countering trafficking in persons (TIP) that depend on prosecution, protection, prevention, and partnership are likely to be insufficient because of the state weakness and humanitarian needs common in such settings. Counter-TIP efforts in African conflict contexts may therefore also benefit from focusing on building community resilience to organized crime, further engaging with non-state actors on TIP challenges, and avoiding over-reliance on securitized responses.
Infographic
published by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies
on July 26, 2019
Human trafficking remains a significant problem in Africa, exploiting vulnerable individuals—children, women, and men—for forced labor as well as prostitution.
Recommended research
published by Tuesday Reitano, Samantha McCormack, Mark Micallef and Mark Shaw, Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime
on July 31, 2018
While migrant-smuggling in Libya has been decried for its brutality, international assistance to Libyato counter smuggling while protecting migrantshas actually inflicted further harm to migrants. When smuggling is treated as a serious crime, the more criminal and brutal of actors are encouraged rather than deterred from operating. They merely pass the risk and cost onto migrants by adding elements of trafficking or other abuses. Ending the abuse of migrants in Libya requires stabilizing, securing, and supporting Libya and all who reside there.
Infographic
published by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies
on July 27, 2018
Trafficking in persons has become a multibillion dollar business in Africa that African governments have been slow to address.
Recommended research
published by Ciara Aucoin, ENACT
on June 30, 2018
African countries are among the world’s most vulnerable to and least prepared for climate change. African citizens prioritize issues that are related to climate change, such as water supply, food shortages, and agriculture. Rising temperatures and changing rainfall patterns have devastated African countries that depend on agriculture. Only about 3 in 10 Africans are fully “climate change literate,” combining awareness of climate change with basic knowledge about its causes and negative effects. Building climate resilience will require commitment and coordination, backed by significant resources and a population that supports prioritizing it.
Spotlight
published by the Africa Center for Strategic Studies
on November 7, 2017
Drug trafficking is a major transnational threat in Africa that converges with other illicit activities ranging from money laundering to human trafficking and terrorism.
Recommended research
published by Mark Shaw, The Journal of Modern African Studies
on September 30, 2015
Drug trafficking in West Africa has increased dramatically over the last two decades, with nearly a quarter of all of Europe’s cocaine being trans-shipped through the region at one point. An essential locale in this trafficking was Guinea-Bissau, often called a “narco state.” In reality, however, the trafficking stemmed from a small politico-military elite that worked in conjunction with independent entrepreneurs. The institutional entanglement implied by the term “narco-state” was not there.
Africa Security Brief No. 28
published by Bradley Anderson and Johan Jooste
on May 31, 2014
Surging demand for ivory and rhino horn, mainly in Asia, has put wild African elephants and rhinoceroses on the path to extinction. More than an environmental tragedy, however, wildlife poaching and trafficking has exacerbated other security threats and led to the co-option of certain African security units. African states need to develop a broad range of law enforcement capabilities to tackle what is effectively a transnational organized crime challenge. Asian and other international partners, meanwhile, must take action to reduce runaway demand for wildlife products.
Africa Security Brief No. 43
published by Daniel Eizenga and Amandine Gnanguênon
on July 22, 2024
Coastal West African countries can strengthen resiliency to the threat of violent extremism by enhancing a multilayered response addressing local, national, and regional priorities.
Spotlight
published by Francois Vreÿ and Mark Blaine
on April 9, 2024
Missile and armed drone strikes by Houthi militias and hijackings by Somali pirates have destabilized maritime shipping from the Red Sea to the Western Indian Ocean, impacting security and trade for all of Africa.
