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Date: November 22, 2024 Fri
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asia
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1268 total results foundAuthor: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Regional Office for East Asia and the Pacific. ASEAN Title: Drug-free ASEAN 2015: Status and Recommendations Summary: At the Thirty-third ASEAN Ministerial Meeting in Bangkok in 2000, Ministers "took note of the threat from drug abuse and drug trafficking on the security and stability of the ASEAN region, particularly its relations with transnational crime" and called for a drug-free ASEAN by 2015.1 Recent documented shifts in illicit drug manufacturing and production, trafficking patterns and abuse trends make it clear that countries in the region must increase their collaborative efforts if this goal is to be realized. "Drug-Free ASEAN 2015: Status and Recommendations" serves as a timely mid-term progress report for the region and is loosely structured under three questions: 'Is the commitment achievable?' 'Is the region on track towards achieving it?' 'What can be done to accelerate progress?' In the report, national/regional overviews of the illicit drug situation since 2000 include the latest information available via data collection mechanisms established by various UNODC Regional Centre projects, official Government reports and interviews with national counterpart agencies and other drug control stakeholders from throughout the region and beyond. Based upon clearly identified response gaps, the report then proposes a series of benchmarks and recommendations for Governments to better monitor the overall progress of their drug prevention and control efforts. A final section of the report deals with emerging challenges posed by the accelerated development of trade and transportation networks in the region. To adequately address the anticipated surge of goods and persons through new and more heavily trafficked border crossings, an effective regional response will require a common strategy and coordinated actions. In October 2007, ASEAN Senior Officials on Drug Matters (ASOD) met to review "Drug-Free ASEAN 2015: Status and Recommendations". Selected recommendations from the report were then endorsed at the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime (AMMTC) in November 2007 in Brunei Darussalam. It is expected that "Drug-Free ASEAN 2015: Status and Recommendations" will serve as a key reference document in the development of an ASEAN-wide work plan by ASOD in the near future. As a collaborative undertaking, this report also highlights the growing cooperation between the ASEAN Secretariat and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Regional Centre for East Asia and the Pacific. This not only fosters linkages between various, ongoing drug control frameworks in the region but also ensures closer collaboration between ASEAN and UNODC in the delivery of technical assistance, capacity building initiatives and expert advice. The Regional Centre looks forward to further close collaboration with the ASEAN Secretariat in the future while progressing towards a Drug-Free ASEAN 2015. Details: Bangkok, Thailand: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2008. 121p. Source: https://www.unodc.org/documents/southeastasiaandpacific/Publications/ASEAN_2015.pdf Year: 2008 Country: Asia Keywords: Drug Abuse and Addiction Shelf Number: 116655 |
Author: United Nations Children's Fund (UNICEF). East Asia and Pacific Regional Office Title: Child Trafficking in East and South-East Asia: Reversing the Trend Summary: To consolidate the gains and growing knowledge base on trafficking in the region over the past seven years, and to guide the future direction of UNICEF's interventions on child trafficking, this report presents a country-level assessment of child trafficking in seven countries: China, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam in early 2008. Details: Bangkok, Thailand: UNICEF, East Asia and Pacific Regional Office, 2009. 103p. Source: Year: 2009 Country: Asia Keywords: Human Trafficking Shelf Number: 116389 |
Author: Schloenhardt, Andreas Title: Palermo on the Pacific Rim: organised crime offences in the Asia Pacific region. Summary: This paper suggests that 'We must recognise the failure of the "organised crime laws" to win the "war on organised crime".' Offences designed to penalise criminal organisations constitute the most recent and perhaps most ambitious strategy to fight organised crime. The common feature of these offences is that they are designed to target the structure, organisation, members, and associates of organised crime groups. Their shared rationale is the view that disrupting criminal activities and arresting individual offenders does not dismantle the criminal organisations that stand behind these illegal activities. Four main types of organised crime offences are identified in this study. These include: 1. The conspiracy model, found in the Convention against Transnational Crime and in jurisdictions such as Australia, Singapore, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, and several Pacific Island nations; 2. The participation model stipulated by the Convention against Transnational Organised Crime, and also adopted in Canada, New Zealand, New South Wales, PR China, Macau, Taiwan, the Pacific Islands, and California; 3. The enterprise model based on the US RICO Act, which is also used in many US States, and the Philippines; 4. The labelling/registration model of Hong Kong, Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, New South Wales, and South Australia. Details: Bangkok, Thailand: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Regional Centre for East Asia and the Pacific, 2009, 315p. Source: Internet Source: Accessed April 27, 2018 at: http://apo.org.au/node/18766 Year: 2009 Country: Asia Keywords: Asia Shelf Number: 116380 |
Author: World Health Organization. Regional Office for the Western Pacific Title: Assessment of Compulsory Treatment of People Who Use Drugs in Cambodia, China, Malaysia, and Viet Nam Summary: This report deals with compulsory drug treatment centers in four countries in the WHO Western Pacific Region, namely, China, Cambodia, Malaysia and Viet Nam. It describes the treatment and HIV-related interventions provided at the centers, and attempts to assess these from a human rights perspective. Details: Manila: World Health Organization, Western Pacific Region Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 23, 2017 at: http://www.aidsdatahub.org/sites/default/files/documents/Assessment_of_compulsory_treatment_of_PUD.pdf Year: 2009 Country: Asia Keywords: Drug Abuse Addiction Shelf Number: 118231 |
Author: Asia Against Child Trafficking (Organization) Title: Protecting the Rights and Dignity of the Trafficked Children in South East Asia Summary: This report presents some minimum standards to protect the rights of trafficked children in South Asia. The report contains three main documents: Proposed guidelines for the protection of the rights of trafficked children in South Asia; Proposed ASEAN guidelines for the protection of the rights of trafficked children in South East Asia; and a comparative analysis and explanatory notes that includes some related experiences and examples in relation to specific provisions gathered from different sources. Details: Manila: Asia ACTs Against Child Trafficking, 2007. 127p. Source: Year: 2007 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Labor Shelf Number: 113386 |
Author: International Bureau for Children's Rights Title: Making Children's Rights Work: Country Profiles on Cambodia, Indonesia, Sri Lanka, Timor Leste, and Viet Nam Summary: This publication presents country profiles on the status of the implementation of standards for children's rights established by the Committee on the Rights of the Child. It aims to detect the existing challenges and gaps, highlight the progress made and identify the commendable practices that are developed in the areas of children's rights by states parties. Details: Montreal: International Bureau for Children's Rights, 2006. 143p. Source: Year: 2006 Country: Asia Keywords: Children (Legal Status) Shelf Number: 110506 |
Author: Johnson, Afrooz Kaviani Title: Mind the Gaps: A Comparative Analysis of ASEAN Legal Responses to Child-Sex Tourism Summary: This report summarizes relevant laws and policy instruments relating to child-sex tourism in the ten South East Asian Countries - Brunei Darussalam, Burma, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam. It is intended to assist national action and enable regional comparisons to enhance the legal response to this crime. Details: South Melbourne, AUS: Child Wise, 2009. 51p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2009 Country: Asia Keywords: Child-Sex Tourism Shelf Number: 116511 |
Author: Child Wise Australia Title: Travelling Child-Sex Offenders in South East Asia: A Regional Review - 2007/2008 Summary: This report represents the third edition of a compendium of information relating to sexual exploitation of children in tourism destinations throughout South East Asia. Details: South Melbourne: Child Wise, 2009. 39p. Source: Year: 2009 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Prostitution Shelf Number: 118307 |
Author: Sea Resources Management Dsn Bhd Title: Case Study of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing Off the East Coast of Peninsular Malaysia Summary: This report on illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing off the east coast of Peninsular Malaysia provides the following: (1) A description of the Malaysian fisheries industry with detailed discussion on the States of Kelantan, Terengganu, Pahang, and eastern Johor; (2) Analysis of demographics for the fishing sector in east coast States; (3) A summary of the nature and extent of IUU fishing in the east coast region; (4) An overview of the drivers and impacts of IUU fishing; (5) A description of monitoring control and surveillance arrangements for east coast Peninsular Malaysian fisheries; and (6) A summary of relevant laws and regulations for the fisheries industry in Malaysia. Details: Singapore: Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation, 2008. 190 p. Source: Year: 2008 Country: Asia Keywords: Illegal Fishing (Malaysia) Shelf Number: 114793 |
Author: Open Society Institute, International Harm Reduction Development Program Title: Detention as Treatment: Detention of Methamphetamine Users in Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand Summary: Methamphetamine use is a serious public health concern in Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand. Despite having policies that recognize addiction as a health problem, these governments are increasingly using law enforcement approaches that treat drug users as criminals rather than patients. This report examines the growing use of detention as treatment for methamphetamine users in the three countries. It examines the policies and practices that force people to detention centers, documents abuses and human rights violations occuring in the centers, and discusses the overall implications for individual and public health. Details: New York: Open Society Institute, 2010. 81p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2010 Country: Asia Keywords: Detention (Cambodia, Laos, Thailand) Shelf Number: 118619 |
Author: Pescott, Michael J. Title: Forest Law Enforcement and Governance: Progress in Asia and the Pacific Summary: Forest law enforcement and governance (FLEG) is a specific and recognizable field of professional practice within forest management. A country's FLEG framework provides the foundation for combating forest crime and for realizing the true potential that sustainable forest management can contribute to socio-economic development. With increasing demand for wood products and for environmental services in Asia and the Pacific, the value of strenghening FLEG will undoubtedly increase in the future. The papers in this volume aim to provide an overview of the current FLEG-related initiatives for 16 of the most forest-rich nations in Asia and the Pacific. Details: Bangkok: Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, 2010. 205p. Source: Year: 2010 Country: Asia Keywords: Forest Management Shelf Number: 118615 |
Author: Jacomy, Severine Title: Risks and Realities of Child Trafficking and Exploitation in Central Asia Summary: This study explores three hypotheses regarding the issue of child trafficking in the Central Asia area: 1) More child trafficking occurs in Central Asia than is currently acknowledged; 2) Child trafficking is closely linked to other societal issues; and 3) Current systems fail to adequately prevent and respond to child trafficking. Details: Geneva: UNICEF Regional Office for CEE/CIS, 2009. 97p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2009 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Pornography Shelf Number: 118669 |
Author: Cameron, Sally Title: Trafficking and Related Labour Exploitation in the ASEAN Region Summary: In the ASEAN region, many thousands of people are trafficked from, through and to ASEAN countries each year. This report has synthesised key current English language research on trafficking in the ASEAN region as a means to provide a basic outline of human trafficking as it is currently understood. Country profiles present trafficking within an economic and labor migration context, as consideration of both is fundamental to understanding why anti-trafficking responses are so challenging and why they must be multi-dimentional. Details: Utrecht, The Netherlands: International Council on Social Welfare, 2007. 273p. Source: Internet Resource; ICSW Briefing Paper Year: 2007 Country: Asia Keywords: Human Trafficking Shelf Number: 118584 |
Author: TRAFFIC Title: What's Driving the Wildlife Trade? A Review of Expert Opinion on Economic and Social Drivers of the Wildlife Trade and Trade Control Efforts in Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDF and Vietnam Summary: South-east Asia is both a center for the comsumption of wildlife products, and also a key supplier of wildlife products to the world. Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR and Vietnam are among the south-east Asian countries that act as major sources of wildlife in trade, the trade involving a wide variety of native species, which, in many cases, are declining as a result of unsustainable, and often illegal, harvest. This study was initiated to provide a better understanding of the economic and social drivers of the wildlife trade in these four countries, and to assess the effectiveness of interventions that have been employed to halt illegal and unsustainable trade in their native flora and fauna. Details: Washington, DC: Sustainable Development Bank, World Bank, 2008. 103p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2008 Country: Asia Keywords: Illegal Hunting Shelf Number: 118609 |
Author: ActionAid International Vietnam Title: On the Trafficking of Vietnamese Women and Children. Synthesis Report of Three Research Studies: Cambodia, Taiwan (China), Vietnam. Summary: This report consolidates three reports conducted under the coordination of ActionAid International Vietnam. The destinations included are Cambodia, Taiwan (China) and Vietnam. The reports are synthesized according to the four levels of inquiry agreed at the start of the research: (1) to learn about the situation of trafficked and migrant women and children at places of origin, (2) to learn about the situation at places of destination, (3) to assess the interventions available/not available to them, and (3) to make recommendations to ActionAid International Vietnam on future program interventions. Details: Ha Noi, Vietnam: ActionAid International Vietnam, 2005. 68p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2005 Country: Asia Keywords: Human Trafficking Shelf Number: 118690 |
Author: Mehta, Swati Title: Feudal Forces: Democratic Nations. Police Accountability in Commonwealth South Asia Summary: Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka make up Commonwealth South Asia. Across the region, issues around police, police reform and police accountability are key human rights concerns and governance priorities. Policing in the region contends with heterogeneous societies, violent crime, protracted conflict, poverty and political unrest. The police must be equipped to meet all these challenges, in support of democratic standards and human rights. This report looks at policing in the Commonwealth South Asia and seeks ways to strengthen democratic policing in the region. It outlines legal frameworks, instituions and processes already in place to hol the police accountable - a key element of democratic policing. Through analysis of the existing accountability systems, this report examines how entrenched democratic policing is in the region and highlights strategies to strengthen it by exploring some of the bet practices in other Commonwealth jurisdictions. Details: New Delhi: Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, 2007. 95p. Source: Intenet Resource Year: 2007 Country: Asia Keywords: Police Accountability Shelf Number: 117604 |
Author: Patil, Sanjay Title: Feudal Forces: Reform Delayed. Moving from Force to Service in South Asian Policing Summary: This report provides details on the current state and pace of police reforms in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka and the concrete steps that can be undertaken to transition policing in the region from a force to a service. Details: New Delhi: Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, 2008. 102p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2008 Country: Asia Keywords: Police Accountability Shelf Number: 117605 |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Title: Patterns and trends of Amphetamine-Type Stimulants and other Drugs in East and South-East Asia (and neighborhood regions) Summary: UNODC launcehd the Global Synthetics Monitoring: Analyses, Reporting and Trends (SMART) Programme in September 2008. The Programme seeks to enhance the capacity of Member States and authorities in priority regions, to generate, manage, analyze and report synthetic drug information, and to apply this scientific evidence-based knowledge to design the policies and programmes. The Global SMART Programme is being implemented in a gradual phased manner, with East Asia being the first focus priority region. This annual report is the first regional situation assessment for East and South-East Asia put forward under the Global SMART Programme. If forms one of the first essential key steps, in providing consolidated up-to-date analysis, based on the information shared by the members countries. This report provides an overview of the amphetamine-type stimulants in the region, and outlines several key issues and emerging threats throughout the region and their implications for the neighbouring regions. It also highlights the need for continued and joint efforts, both at the national as well as regional levels. Details: Vienna: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2009. 140p. Source: Internet Resource; Global SMART Programme Year: 2009 Country: Asia Keywords: Drug Abuse and Addiction Shelf Number: 117587 |
Author: Varia, Nisha Title: Slow Reform: Protection of Migrant Domestic Workers in Asia and the Middle East Summary: This report surveys progress in Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Lebanon, Jordan, Singapore, and Malaysia in extending protection to domestic workers under labor laws, reforming immigration sponsorship systems that contribute to abuse, ensuring effective response by police and courts to physical and sexual violence, and allowing civil society and trade unions to organize. The report highlights best government responses and continuing protection gaps and makes detailed recommendations to ensure respect for migrant domestic workers' rights. Details: New York: Human Rights Watch, 2010. 26p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2010 Country: Asia Keywords: Human Rights Shelf Number: 119143 |
Author: Title: Handing Back Responsibility to Timor-Leste's Police Summary: This report calls for the United Nations to hand over formal control of the Timor-Leste police as soon as possible and to hammer out a detailed framework for future cooperation with the police under local command. Details: Brussels: International Crisis Group, 2009. 33p. Source: Internet Resource; Asia Report No. 180 - 3 December 2009 Year: 2009 Country: Asia Keywords: Police Administration (Timore-Leste) Shelf Number: 119113 |
Author: Meere, Frank Title: Assessment of Impacts of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing in the Asia-Pacific Summary: Illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Asia-Pacific region has been the subject of considerable discussion over the last decade. During that period, concern about the economic, social and environmental impact of IUU fishing in the region, as elsewhere in the world, has increased. The overall objective of this study is provide a better understanding of the IUU fishing problem in the Asia-Pacific Region and to provide a basis for recommendations for minimizing IUU fishing and mitigating the impacts of this activity. The analysis in this report is based on three main sources of information: 1) a review of the literature and publicly available data on the nature and extent of IUU fishing in the region; 2) responses to questionnaires distribued to APEC member economies and intergovernmental and nongovernmental organizations; and 3) four case studies of IUU fishing in the Asia-Pacific region. Details: Singapore: Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Secretariat, 2008. 106p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2008 Country: Asia Keywords: Illegal Fishing Shelf Number: 115785 |
Author: Berardi, Giorgio Title: The Use of Information and Communication Technologies in Connection with Cases of Child-Sex Tourism in East and Southeast Asia Summary: This report presents a review of the literature on the current state of known interactions between Internet communication technology and child-sex tourism. It includes: 1) an analysis of the nature, extent and trends in the use of information technology for faciliting sexual exploitation of children, especially in East and Southeast Asia; and 2) an analysis of targeted recommendations for action by key actors to prevent and protect children from being sexually exploitation through tourism. Details: Bangkok: ECPAT International, 2010. 68p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2010 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Prostitution Shelf Number: 119223 |
Author: ECPAT International Title: Upholding the Right of Children to Live Free from Commercial Sexual Exploitation: Interventions and Recommendations Summary: The commercial sexual exploitation of children is a transnational issue that affects children across Asia and one that needs to be addressed in the regional and international context. A key requirement is well-coordinated, consistent and strong laws, within countries and across jurisdictions. Children are trafficked across borders and coerced into prostitution; child sex tourists travel to different locations to exploit children; and rapid growth in Internet use and other information and communication technologies allows child pornography to be distributed across borders. Many countries have inadequate legislation to address the problem. This report looks at the legal environment in the Asia Region and outlines the steps a country can take to fulfill its obligations towards children. Details: Bangkok: ECPAT International, 2007. 61p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2007 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Pornography Shelf Number: 119250 |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Independent Evaluation Unit Title: Thematic Evaluation of Counter-Narcotics Enforcement in Central Asia Summary: The programme of the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) in Central Asia covers Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. Counter-narcotics enforcement (CNE) is by far the largest operation and is considered strategically important to the region. CNE projects with varying objectives account for 85 per cent of the region’s total portfolio and have been allocated a combined budget of about US$ 40 million. CNE projects are ongoing operations that are expected to remain a primary area of intervention for UNODC in Central Asia in the future. The present thematic evaluation aims to assess UNODC activities in the region by establishing what the Office has achieved to date under the CNE objective and to identify lessons learned and best practices to improve future operations. Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2007. 71p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2007 Country: Asia Keywords: Drub Abuse and Addiction Shelf Number: 115737 |
Author: Ahrari, Ehsan Title: Narco-Jihad: Drug Trafficking and Security in Afghanistan and Pakistan Summary: Narcotics production and trafficking is a critical dimension of the conflict in Afghanistan and Pakistan. With Afghanistan as the world's largest opium producer, narcotics are the economic lynchpin connecting key players in the Afghanistan-Pakistan border region. The increase in narco-trafficking routes through Russia and Central Asia to supply global demand introduces important international variables. This report assesses the global and regional dynamics of narcotics production and trafficking in Afghanistan and Pakistan and the implications for counterinsurgency efforts in the region. Details: Seattle, WA: National Bureau of Asian Research, 2009. 57p. Source: Internet Resource; NBR Special Report No. 20 Year: 2009 Country: Asia Keywords: Drug Trafficking Shelf Number: 117571 |
Author: Palma, Mary Ann Title: Case Study on the Impacts of Illegal, Unreported and Unregulated (IUU) Fishing in the Sulawesi Sea Summary: "This report presents an analysis of the nature and extent of illegal, unreported and unregulated (IUU) fishing in the Sulawesi Sea, including their economic, social and environmental impacts and the factors contributing to IUU fishing in the area." Details: Singapore: Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Secretariat, 2008. 61p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2008 Country: Asia Keywords: Illegal Fishing Shelf Number: 119372 |
Author: World Bank Title: Timor-Leste's Youth in Crisis: Situational Analysis and Policy Options Summary: This report argues for a concerted, long-term investment in youth by the government and the international community. The report consists of three chapters. Chapter one examines the factors that put youth at risk of violent behavior and that lead youth to engage in violence; the findings are summarized in Chart 1 below. The analysis in this chapter suggests the dire need for a comprehensive framework that tackles the economic, social and political predicament of youth in Timor-Leste. Chapter two presents an initial attempt to determine the broad contours of a comprehensive framework. The first section suggests eight principles that should guide youth development. The second section identifies five policy priorities for addressing the youth crisis, they are: 1) Keep youth in school; 2) Increase youth employment opportunities; 3) Connect youth with community; 4) Empower youth to participate in nation-building; and 5) Strengthen formal and informal controls on youth. The third section (of chapter two) provides a list of interventions and programs that could address these policy priorities. This is drawn from international experience and a range of contexts. Section four suggests a set of criteria for prioritizing programmatic interventions. Chapter three recommends six priority interventions. These are: 1) Expand cash/in-kind school programs; 2) Re-establish youth centers; 3) Expand labor-intensive youth employment programming; 4) Re-establish community-driven development programming with a youth focus; 5) Support a youth-led communication program; and 6) Support a community justice and safety program. Table 1 presents the policy priorities, intervention options, and recommendations. Details: Washington, DC: The World Bank, 2007. 51p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2007 Country: Asia Keywords: Juvenile Justice (Timor-Leste) Shelf Number: 119275 |
Author: International Fund for Animal Welfare (IFAW) Title: Wrap Up the Trade: An International Campaign to Save the Endangered Tibetan Antelope Summary: This report documents the international scope of the illegal trade in Tibetan antelope wool from China and shawls from India - a trade that may force the extinction of the Tibetan antelope. Details: Yarmouth Port, MA: IFAW; New Delhi: WTI, 2001. 79p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2001 Country: Asia Keywords: Illegal Hunting Shelf Number: 118628 |
Author: Mansfield, David Title: An Analysis of Licit Opium Poppy Cultivation: India and Turkey Summary: For most of the 20th Century, morphine and codeine have been used for the relief of pain, suppressing coughs, and treating diarrhoea. Indeed, in the last thirty years both opiates have been recommended by the World Health Organisation as essential therapeutic tools with a wide range of medical applications and, more recently, in the treatment of cancer-related pain. Consequently, over the last twenty years the demand for opiate raw materials has increased significantly. However, mirroring this increase in the demand for opiates for legitimate medical and scientific needs has been an increasing concern over the illegal use of opiates, from smoking and eating opium in the 19th Century to smoking and injecting heroin in the late part of the 20th Century. The challenge for the international community has been to establish a regulatory system that ensures that the legitimate medical and scientific needs for opiates are met, whilst preventing diversion to illicit markets. This report seeks to assess the scale and nature of any potential diversion from the licit trade through a comparative analysis of the different processes and controls applied in two source countries, India and Turkey. It compares the different regulatory and control mechanisms that are applied in each of these countries and identifies lessons learned and ‘best practice’ in the cultivation, production and regulatory mechanisms for licit opium poppy. Details: Unpublished report, 2001. 54p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 13, 2018 at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/266277621_AN_ANALYSIS_OF_LICIT_OPIUM_POPPY_CULTIVATION_INDIA_AND_TURKEY Year: 2001 Country: Asia Keywords: Drug Control Shelf Number: 116674 |
Author: Chalk, Peter Title: The Evolving Terrorist Threat to Southeast Asia: A Net Assessment Summary: Terrorism is not new to Southeast Asia. For much of the Cold War, the activities of a variety of domestic ethnonationalist and religious militant groups posed a significant challenge to the region's internal stability. Since the 1990s, however, the residual challenge posed by substate militant extremism has risen in reaction to both the force of modernization pursued by many Southeast Asian governments and the political influence of radical Islam. Building on prior RAND research analyzing the underlying motives, drivers, and capabilities of the principal extremist groups that have resorted to terrorist violence in the Philippines, southern Thailand, and Indonesia, this study examined the historical roots of militancy in these countries to provide context for assessing the degree to which local agendas are either being subsumed within a broader ideological framework or shaped by other extremist movements. Moving beyond simple terrorism analysis, this research also examined national and international government responses to militant movements in the region, including counterterrorist initiatives, military and policing strategies, hearts-and-minds campaigns, and funding and support from international organizations and governments (including the United States). Finally, the study broke new ground in assessing Cambodia as a potential future terrorist operational and logistical hub in Southeast Asia. Details: Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2009. 238p. Source: Internet Resource Year: 2009 Country: Asia Keywords: National Security Shelf Number: 115178 |
Author: United Nations Children's Fund, Innocenti Research Centre Title: South Asia in Action: Preventing and Responding to Child Trafficking: Analysis of Anti-Trafficking Initiatives in the Region Summary: This report presents an analysis of anti-trafficking initiatives related to children in the South Asian countries of Afghanistan, Bangaladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. South Asian children continue to be trafficked for multiple forms of sexual exploitation – including prostitution, sex tourism, child pornography, paedophilia - and labour exploitation in agriculture, factories, domestic servitude and begging, forced marriage, adoption, military recruitment and debt release. The report includes several examples of laws and policies that could be enacted to prevent children from being trafficked and to protect children once they have been trafficked. Details: Florence, Italy: UNICEF Innocenti Research Centre, 2009. 70p. Source: Internet Resource; Accessed August 8, 2010 at http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/ii_ct_southasia_analysis.pdf Year: 2009 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Labor Shelf Number: 117638 |
Author: Asian Legal Resource Center (ALRC) Title: Use of Police Powers for Profit: including the cases of Abdur Razzak, Bangladesh & Sugath Fernando, Sri Lanka also Burma, Pakistan, Philippines Summary: This report deals with the way in which police in various countries in Asia abuse the criminal justice process and their powers of arrest and detention to make a profit and harass individuals for petty reasons rather than investigate crime. In most parts of Asia there are no mechanisms for complaints against police. This edition of article 2 documents several cases to illustrate this practice, including examples from Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, the Philippines and Pakistan. Details: Hong Kong: Asian Legal Resource Centre, 2009. 96p. Source: Internet Resource; Article 2 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, Vol. 8, no. 1; Accessed August 17, 2010 at: http://www.article2.org/mainfile.php/0801/ Year: 2009 Country: Asia Keywords: Complaints Against Police (Asia) Shelf Number: 115179 |
Author: Bateman, Sam Title: Safety and Security in the Malacca and Singapore Straits: An Agenda for Action Summary: "This report proposes a 21-Point Action Plan for enhancing maritime safety and security in the Malacca and Singapore Straits. It builds on the significant measures already identified at the 2005 Shangri-La Dialogue; in the Batam Joint Statement of the 4th Tripartite Ministerial Meeting of the Littoral States on the Straits of Malacca and Singapore held in August 2005; and in the Jakarta Statement on Enhancement of Safety, Security and Environmental Protection in the Straits of Malacca and Singapore agreed at the meeting convened by the International Maritime Organization (IMO) and the Indonesian Government in September 2005. The report focuses on maritime safety and security at sea in the Straits themselves, specifically on the need for cooperation between the different stakeholders, national governments, international and regional organizations, and the private sector, and on the measures that might be introduced to ensure maritime safety and security in the Straits. It recommends a comprehensive and integrated approach that brings together institutional arrangements and operational measures for safety, security and marine environmental protection. The ultimate objective should be to establish a system of information exchange and situational awareness in the Straits that engages the states in the approaches to the Straits (i.e. India and Thailand), as well as the main littoral countries (i.e. Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore)." Details: Singapore: S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, 2006. 40p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 20, 2010 at: http://www.isn.ethz.ch/isn/Digital-Library/Publications/Detail/?ots591=&lng=en&id=26417 Year: 2006 Country: Asia Keywords: Maritime Crime Shelf Number: 119643 |
Author: Bateman, Sam Title: Good Order at Sea in Southeast Asia Summary: This policy paper examines the threats to good order at sea in Southeast Asia . Threats to good order include piracy and armed robbery against ships, maritime terrorism, illicit trafficking in drugs and arms, people smuggling, pollution, illegal fishing and marine natural hazards. This paper reviews the current situation and makes recommendations for non-governmental actions that would enhance cooperation in addressing the problem. Details: Singapore: S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, 2009. 52p. Source: Internet Resource: RSIS Policy Paper: Accessed August 20, 2010 at: http://www.rsis.edu.sg/publications/policy_papers/RSIS_Policy%20Paper%20-%20Good%20Order%20at%20Sea_270409.pdf Year: 2009 Country: Asia Keywords: Drug Smuggling Shelf Number: 119644 |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Title: An Asessment of Transnational Organized Crime in Central Asia Summary: Transnational organized crime in Central Asia represents a serious threat to the region inhibiting the emergence of stable societies. This report provides an overview of the scope of the problem of transnational organized crime in Central Asia. The report identifies trafficking in drugs, human beings and firearms, fraud and corruption as the principle and most serious crimes in the Central Asian region. It provides an analytical framework based on causal factors as well as on facilitating and inhibiting factors. Acknowledging the difficulties and limitations associated with research on organized crime in Central Asia, the report is a synthesis of information from a multitude of sources. It includes information provided by the governments of Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan together with data and information drawn from secondary literature, expert opinions and other sources. An analysis of organized crime in Central Asia must take into account historical, political, social and economic developments in the region. Most states in Central Asia are in a transitional period and are characterized by developing, but still relatively low levels of effective governance. Gaps in governmental capacity and voids created by weak and ineffective state institutions are a strong contributing factor in the proliferation of organized criminal activities. Moreover, cultural, religious and ethnic differences are exploited by organized criminals to achieve their objectives and to facilitate the spread of organized crime. Organized crime, therefore, must be seen as a consequence of the interplay between these various elements. The report discusses the specific structures and modes of operation of the Central Asian criminal groups. It highlights the diversity of those groups and the tendency towards more flexible network organizations. Various types of activities in which criminal groups are engaged are explored in the report, with drug trafficking presenting the most serious problem. With three of the Central Asian states, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan, sharing borders with Afghanistan, the largest producer of illicit opiates in the world, Central Asia is an important transit zone for illicit drugs. A consequence of the drug trafficking has been a major increase in drug abuse in the region. However, it is not the only form of criminal activity associated with organized crime in the region. Organized crime activity includes significant—and in some cases growing—incidents of trafficking in human beings and firearms, fraud and corruption. Details: New York: UNODC, 2007. 57p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 9, 2010 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/organized-crime/Central_Asia_Crime_Assessment.pdf Year: 2007 Country: Asia Keywords: Corruption Shelf Number: 116541 |
Author: Muggah, Robert, ed. Title: Urban Violence in an Urban Village: A Case Study of Dili, Timor-Leste Summary: Drawing on a randomized household survey, focus group interviews, and an extensive literature review undertaken between June and December 2009, this study considers the structural and proximate factors shaping urban violence in Dili. These include the presence of informal security actors, erstwhile internally displaced persons (IDPs), permanent and seasonal population movements, land and property disputes, and persistent and glaring socioeconomic inequalities. The report also focuses on the objective symptoms of urban violence, including (the comparatively low) homicide rates, the relatively high rates of robbery, the high prevalence of sexual and domestic violence, the relationship between alcohol consumption and the onset of violence, the seemingly ambiguous and distrustful attitudes towards formal security providers, and the interconnections between systemic unemployment and protracted violence. In terms of subjective experiences of urban violence, the study finds that most residents describe their neighbourhoods as generally free from violence, their communities as safer than surrounding communities, the security of their neighbourhoods as adequate, and their neighbours as willing to look out for one another. The tendency towards increased transience and anonymity, owing in part to an exploding population and urbanization, may threaten these social networks of reciprocity. The study finds that urban violence in Dili can often shift from collective to interpersonal forms in dramatic fashion. Owing to the weak state of crime and health surveillance and the fact that most minor incidents are dealt with through customary means, if at all, it is difficult for international and domestic authorities to anticipate the onset of acute forms of urban violence. While recognizing a comparatively low incidence of overall violent victimization in Dili since 2007, the study observes that muscular coercive and security-led interventions seeking to deter urban violence are more commonly pursued by the government than informal, voluntary approaches that seek to prevent and reduce victimization in the long term. Details: Geneva: Geneva Declaration Secretariat, 2010. 80p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper: Accessed October 21, 2010 at: http://www.genevadeclaration.org/fileadmin/docs/regional-publications/Urban_Violence_Dili.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Asia Keywords: Socioeconomic Status Shelf Number: 120050 |
Author: Mansfield, David Title: Development in a Drugs Environment: A Strategic Approach to 'Alternative Development' Summary: Whichever way we look at it Alternative Development is at a crossroads: there is confusion over language and terms, concerns over the technical capacity of implementing bodies, and the growing view that the attribution of both drug control and development outcomes to alternative development projects remains opaque. The result is funding for alternative development projects continues to fall. There are certainly many in the wider development community who question how alternative development differs from conventional rural development and whether the inclusion of key cross cutting issues such as poverty, gender, the environment and conflict have actually manifested in improvements in the lives and livelihoods of primary stakeholders. Without more robust evidence of the impact of these programmes on both human development indicators and illicit drug crop cultivation, as well as improved confidence in the effectiveness of those bodies that have traditionally designed and implemented alternative development programmes, it is unlikely that levels of funding for the kind of discrete area based alternative development projects of the past will actually recover. More recently in Afghanistan, and increasingly in other source countries in Asia, the term ‘alternative development’ has been substituted with ‘Alternative Livelihoods’ with little recognition of the conceptual and operational differences. Elsewhere terms such as ‘Sustainable Alternative Livelihoods’ and indeed ‘Sustainable Livelihoods’ itself are sneaking into the rubric of drug control agencies as they search for a common language and legitimacy with the development community. Even the term ‘Alternative Development’ still means ‘many things to many people’. For those whose performance is measured simply in terms of reductions in the amount of opium poppy and coca grown, alternative development is seen as simply as the ‘carrot’ to the eradication ‘stick’, and the provision of development assistance is contingent on reductions in illicit drug crop cultivation. For others, reductions in illicit drug crop cultivation are an externality of a development process (that includes extending good governance and the rule of law) aimed at achieving sustainable improvements in lives and livelihoods. In terms of both process and the primary goal there is still much disagreement with regard to alternative development. However, there is a danger of ‘throwing the baby out with the bathwater’. Alternative development projects have achieved both development and drug control outcomes in specific geographical areas where more conventional development agencies are often not even present, despite the prevailing levels of poverty and conflict. For those who have experienced the low levels of literacy, high incidence of food insecurity, infant mortality and malnutrition that typically exist in illicit drug crop producing areas, as well as the lack of governance and prevailing levels of violence and intimidation from both state and non-state actors, arguments about the relatively high income of opium poppy and coca growing households seems rather inappropriate and ill informed. To this group the subsequent improvements in the income and quality of life of communities that often accompany alternative development projects at the same time as levels of opium poppy or coca cultivation fall are obvious, even if they might have been documented better or achieved more cost effectively. Given the concentration of illicit drug crops in marginal areas where weak governance, conflict and poverty prevail it is clear that the current impasse on the role of the development community in improving the lives and livelihoods of those residing in illicit drug crop producing areas has to be overcome so that both development and drug control communities can meet their different but interrelated objectives. Yet, there is a need to recognise that greater engagement by the development community will not be achieved by launching a new marketing campaign and trying to sell what is already considered a faulty product more effectively, or simply tinkering with the name in the hope that non one notices the ‘alternative development’ product has actually passed its ‘sell-by-date’. Instead, there is a need for the proponents of alternative development to learn from the wider development community in terms of conceptual frameworks, understanding the nature of change in rural livelihoods, and in particular, to recognise that the more traditional project type intervention has its limitations and that a wider-sectoral approach is required to build an enabling policy environment for development efforts to have make a real impact. At the same time, there is a need for the development community to move way from what can be a rather unsophisticated and outdated model of the ‘profit maximising illicit drug farmer’ and further its understanding of the complex role that illicit drug crops play in the livelihoods of the rural poor. This Discussion paper is aimed at promoting just such an understanding between both communities. Indeed, it is targeted at a wider development community that has often been at best suspicious of the illicit drug issues and a drug control community that has often proved insular and unable to draw on the lessons learned from the implementation of more conventional rural development interventions over the last decade. The paper is intended to provoke both communities into a more constructive dialogue: a dialogue that is aimed more at developing a deeper understanding of the considerable overlap between drug control and development agendas; and that promotes partnership – no longer based on the distinct and rather artificial discipline of ‘alternative development’ in which neither development nor drug control community have ownership – but based on agreed principles of integrating an analysis of the causes of illicit drug crop cultivation into conventional development programmes, a common understanding of how development outcomes can translate into drug control achievements, and an ethos of doing ‘development in a drugs environment’. Details: Eschborn/Germany: Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ), 2006. 40p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 9, 2010 at: http://www.davidmansfield.org/data/Alternative_Development/GTZ/strategic_approach.pdf Year: 2006 Country: Asia Keywords: Drug Control Shelf Number: 120269 |
Author: Oswell, Adam H. Title: The Big Cat Trade in Myanmar and Thailand Summary: Between January 2001 and June 2010 a total of 493 big cat parts were observed at markets and during covert investigations in Myanmar and Thailand. Live big cats were also observed and recorded, including all four species of big cats that occur in Myanmar and Thailand (Tiger, Panthera tigris; Leopard, Panthera pardus; Clouded Leopard, Neofelis nebulosa, Snow Leopard, Uncia uncia) and one non-indigenous species (Asiatic Lion, Panthera leo persica). Both Myanmar and Thailand are signatories to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), completely prohibiting all commercial trans-border trade of big cats (including their parts and derivatives) listed in CITES Appendix I, and requiring permits for export of species listed in Appendix II. Myanmar has been a signatory to CITES since 1997 and Thailand since 1983. All Asian big cats including Tiger, Leopard, Clouded Leopard, Snow Leopard and Asiatic Lion are classified as Appendix I under CITES. The indigenous big cats are also protected by national law in both countries. All indigenous cat species in Thailand fall under the Wildlife Reservation and Protection Act B.E. 2535 (AD1992). In Myanmar, they are under the Protection of Wildlife and Wild Plants and Conservation of Natural Areas Law (State Law and Order Restoration Council Law No. 583/94.1994). All observations and investigations took place in border areas and in markets on the Thai/Myanmar border, Myanmar/China border and the Thai/Lao PDR border where the trade in wildlife and big cats is very active and is conducted in most cases with impunity despite national and international laws to prohibit the trade in these species. The fact that the majority of this trade occurs in non-government controlled areas in northern Myanmar bordering China underscores the difficulty in implementing effective enforcement in these areas. If significant progress is to be made in reducing or ending the trade in big cats and other protected wildlife, the groups that control these areas and allow traders to operate must be engaged and influenced either to establish and enforce their own conservation legislation or to implement existing national laws. Non-government controlled areas in northern Myanmar play a major role in facilitating regional trade in big cats and many other endangered species. Some groups resident in strategically important areas bordering China, India and Thailand maintain significant militia forces, which enables these self-governed entities to exist and operate illegal trade in arms, narcotics, humans and wildlife. The extreme decentralization of northern Myanmar makes the situation more difficult to monitor and control. Parts and derivatives of big cats, and live animals are sourced in Myanmar, Thailand, Lao PDR, Malaysia and India and trafficked across national borders into these non-government controlled areas where they are stored, wholesaled and retailed to local and international buyers. The products are easily transported by boat or road into China and Thailand where some continue via national postal systems, road and/or air transport to domestic and international buyers and markets. The trade documented in this report poses a real and immediate threat to the survival of big cat species in Asia. Details: Selangor, Malaysia: TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, 2010. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 29, 2010 at: http://assets.panda.org/downloads/traffic_species_mammals61_1.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Asia Keywords: Illegal Trade Shelf Number: 120295 |
Author: Hernandez, Katherine Marie G. Title: 'Pirates' in the Sea: Private Military and Security Company Activities in Southeast Asia and the Philippines Case Summary: According to a retired Colonel and Director of Security Support in Fiji, Sakiusa Ravioce, who runs the biggest of the six mercenary employment agencies in Fiji, 'private armies became a viable commercial enterprise the moment America invaded Iraq' (The Warrior Lawyer, 2008). The privatisation of warfare (or security for that matter) in Iraq and Afghanistan refers to the hiring of private military/security companies (PMSCs) by the United States government, through its state agencies, to undertake functions that were traditionally performed exclusively by members of its armed forces. The hiring of such companies is not a new phenomenon, nor is its development specific to the U.S. Outsourcing of military services may not be a new phenomenon, but PMSCs have evolved only in the past 15 years, proliferating rapidly since the end of the Cold War. This diversification can be attributed to the changing nature of conflict after 1989. The downsizing of major armies left an abundance of well-trained and experienced soldiers available to set up and be employed by PMSCs. The reduction in the size of the military at a time when numerous conflicts emerged in different parts of the world, led the U.S. government to increase military outsourcing in order to respond to these conflicts, and to manage the growing unpopularity of its war on terror on the domestic front. The privatisation of security may be a global development, but the operations of private military and security companies have different impacts across regions. This paper looks at private military and security companies in Asia, particularly in Southeast Asia and how these companies have conducted their operations in the region. This paper aims to consolidate data on what has been written about private military and security groups operating in the region and the activities that they are involved in, such as the provision of security to private entities (i.e., corporate offices, business establishments, and mostly non-government clientele), training for government law enforcement personnel or a segment of the armed forces, maritime security activities, and recruitment. Details: Santiago, Chile: Global Consortium on Security Transformation, 2010. 14p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper Series, No. 9: Accessed November 29, 2010 at: http://www.securitytransformation.org/images/publicaciones/183_Working_Paper_9_-_Pirates_in_the_Sea_-_Private_Military_and_Security_Company_Activities_in_Southeast_Asia_and_the_Philippines_Case.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Asia Keywords: Maritime Security Shelf Number: 120298 |
Author: Larsen, Jacqueline Joudo Title: Migration and People Trafficking in Southeast Asia Summary: Although the number of identified cases of trafficking into Australia is relatively low, the hidden nature of this crime and reluctance of trafficked persons to report to authorities suggests that a number of cases may go unidentified and the problem may be more extensive than available data indicates. Much can be learned about the risks of exploitation, including trafficking, from an overview of undocumented movement throughout the region. The risk of people being trafficked to Australia is largely mitigated by well-protected borders and economic opportunities in more accessible regions. However, management of the risks of trafficking in the southeast Asian region is connected to strategies that aim to prevent trafficking at source countries and to the activities of Australians and Australian entities in those countries. Characteristics of migration in southeast Asia—such as the role of informal networks in facilitating movement and the exploitation of migrants for non-sex work as well as sex work—hold important implications for Australia’s response to people trafficking. Details: Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2010. 6p. Source: Internet Resource: Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, No. 401: Accessed November 29, 2010 at: http://www.aic.gov.au/documents/D/8/6/%7BD868274B-2F97-45DB-BA32-3DBB7290A7C4%7Dtandi401.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Asia Keywords: Border Security Shelf Number: 120302 |
Author: Transnational Institute Title: Alternative Development or Business as Usual? China's Opium Substitution Policy in Burma and Laos Summary: A significant part of opium and its derivative heroin on the market in China originates from the ‘Golden Triangle’ – roughly the area that spans northern Burma, Thailand and Laos. It supplies a large number of injecting drugs users in China, and is considered a major security concern by the Chinese authorities. To counter this threat, the Chinese government have launched opium substitution programmes in northern Burma and Laos. The schemes, promoting agricultural investments by Chinese companies, have seen a dramatic increase in recent years. They include large-scale rubber plantations and other crops such as sugarcane, tea and corn. Serious concerns arise regarding the longterm economic benefits and costs of rubber development for poor upland villagers. Although some economic benefits are derived from rubber development, the villagers enjoying these new resource revenue streams are not the poorest. Wealthier farmers with savings and better social networks can more easily tap benefits; hence socio-economic gaps are developing in the communities. Without access to capital and land to become involved in rubber concessions, upland farmers practicing swidden cultivation (many of whom are (ex-) poppy growers) have few alternatives but to work as wage labourers on agricultural concessions. They are forced to accede to government relocation programmes or to economic factors, as they have no other means of income. Conclusions and recommendations: The huge increase in Chinese agricultural concessions in Burma and Laos is driven by China’s opium crop substitution programme, offering subsidies and tax waivers for Chinese companies; China’s focus is on integrating the local economy of the border regions of Burma and Laos into the regional market through bilateral relations with government and military authorities across the border; In Burma large-scale rubber concessions is the only method operating. Initially informal smallholder arrangements were the dominant form of cultivation in Laos, but the topdown coercive model is gaining prevalence; The poorest of the poor, including many (ex-) poppy farmers, benefit least from these investments. They are losing access to land and forest, being forcibly relocated to the lowlands, left with few viable options for survival; New forms of conflict are arising from Chinese large-scale investments abroad. Related land dispossession has wide implications on drug production and trade, as well as border stability; and Investments related to opium substitution plans should be carried out in a more sustainable, transparent, accountable and equitable fashion with a community-based approach. They should respect traditional land rights and communities’ customs. Details: Amsterdam: Transnational Institute, 2010. 12p. Source: Internet Resource: Drug Policy Briefing No. 33: Accessed December 1, 2010 at: http://www.tni.org/sites/www.tni.org/files/download/brief33.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Asia Keywords: Drug Control Shelf Number: 120333 |
Author: Martin, Tony Title: Report on Foreign Fishing Vessel Security Issues in the Pacific Islands Region Summary: The threat of terrorist activity associated with foreign fishing vessels operating in the Pacific region is regarded as very low. These vessels do, however, represent a security risk in a number of areas: illegal, unreported and unregulated fishing, people smuggling, trafficking in persons, illegal immigration, smuggling of weapons and drugs, prostitution, money laundering and corruption. The extent of risk in each of these areas is difficult to quantify with any certainty because of the lack of reliable data. At the international, regional and sub-regional levels, fisheries management is the subject of a large number of international and regional regulatory instruments. This is not the case when it comes to fishing vessel safety, training and conditions of employment of crews and protection of the marine environment where there has been a marked reluctance internationally to adopt and enforce standards. In the Pacific region, there is a lack of understanding on the part of those responsible for fisheries management, maritime administration and border management issues, of the respective roles each plays and the issues they face. Communication and information sharing between these sectors occurs infrequently if at all. In this report, specific measures are proposed to mitigate the security risks posed by foreign fishing vessels including wider use of existing information for monitoring vessels’ locations and their activities and, in due course, an ILO-based system for seafarer identification. The measures, with some modification, reflect some of the provisions of the maritime security regime (the ISPS Code) for international merchant shipping that might usefully be applied to the fishing sector for border management control purposes. Details: Noumea, New Caledonia: Regional Maritime Programme, Secretariat of the Pacific Community, 2005. 69p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 10, 2010 at: dns1.spc.int/coastfish/Reports/HOF5/FFVsecurity.pdf Year: 2005 Country: Asia Keywords: Fishing Industry Shelf Number: 120441 |
Author: Liss, Carolin Title: Privatising Anti-Piracy Services in Strategically Important Waterways: Risks, Challenges and Benefits Summary: In the past few years, an increasing number of Private Security Companies (PSCs – also sometimes referred to as Private Military Companies, PMCs) have emerged offering and conducting Anti-Piracy Services. These companies offer services in addition to security provided by states and their government agencies. PSCs are today hired to provide anti-piracy services in different parts of the world, but mostly in strategically important waterways where piracy is a serious security concern. This paper examines the employment of PSCs in two such waterways, namely the Malacca Straits and the Gulf of Aden, and discusses the risks, challenges and benefits of privatising maritime security. Details: Hongo, Bunkyo-Ku, Japan: Graduate School of Public Policy, University of Tokyo, 2009. 13p. Source: Internet Resource: GraSPP Working Paper Series: Accessed December 14, 2010 at: http://www.pp.u-tokyo.ac.jp/research/dp/documents/GraSPP-DP-E-09-003OPU-DP-E-09-001.pdf Year: 2009 Country: Asia Keywords: Maritime Security Shelf Number: 120504 |
Author: Muggah, Robert Title: Timor-Leste Armed Violence Assessment Final Report Summary: This report brings together research and analysis produced for the Timor- Leste Armed Violence Assessment (TLAVA) over the period 2008–10. The TLAVA was a two-year field research-based project to explore pressing security issues in Timor-Leste, with a specific focus on the dynamics of armed violence. Co-sponsored and administered jointly by the Small Arms Survey and ActionAid Australia (formerly Austcare) with support from AusAID, the project produced five Issue Briefs and two legal analyses, as well as workshops and consultations with key domestic Timorese and international stakeholders. The overarching goal of the project was to marshal existing and new research to systematically examine the gap between real and perceived armed violence in Timor-Leste, and produce accessible publications to inform interventions. Based on consultations with stakeholders in Timor-Leste, the project focused on three specific areas: an assessment of the risk factors, impacts, and socio-economic costs of armed violence in relation to population health—particularly women, children and male youths, and internally displaced persons (IDPs); a review of the dynamics of armed violence associated with ‘high-risk’ groups such as gangs, specific communities in affected districts, petitioners, veterans, and state institutions, and potential triggers such as elections; and the role of arms (e.g. bladed, home-made or ‘craft’, and manufactured) as a factor contributing to armed violence. In addition to the reports generated by the TLAVA, the research team sought to ensure the transfer and exchange of skills and training for sustainable research on armed violence, and to strengthen domestic monitoring and information management capacities in the public health and security sectors to prevent and reduce armed violence. This report is organized by thematic area, reviewing specific topics covered in the Issue Briefs, specifically the presence and control of small arms in Timor-Leste, group-related violence and state and civil society efforts to control it, and sexual and gender-based violence and recent developments in addressing it. Owing to important developments since the publication of the original Issue Briefs, researchers and contributors provided updates on these topics in 2010. While not all substantive areas of the TLAVA could be revisited, the conclusion reflects on future directions for research on armed violence in Timor-Leste. Details: Geneva: Small Arms Survey, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, 2010. 60p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 14, 2010 at: http://www.timor-leste-violence.org/pdfs/Timor-Leste-Violence-Special-Report-12.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Asia Keywords: Gangs Shelf Number: 120508 |
Author: Alves, Maria Domingas Fernandes Title: Baseline Study on Sexual and Gender-Based Violence in Bobonaro and Covalima Summary: Sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) is a world wide phenomenon existing in all countries with power, domination and control, mainly by men, the primary cause. Factors contributing to its prevalence include conflict and post conflict situations, economic, social, cultural and geographic factors. Its existence reflects the inequality between men and women, and it is mostly women who are affected, with mostly men as offenders. SGBV can be perpetrated by intimate partners, family members and friends, as well as strangers. Many studies on sexual and gender-based violence have been conducted in Timor- Leste since 1999 by national and international organizations examining the prevalence, incidence, cultural context and legal mechanisms available to resolve individual cases, and prevent further SGBV. These have been reviewed by the research team for this study. Current information in Timor-Leste indicates that SGBV is the largest category of crimes reported to police. To respond to this problem the UNIFEM programme “Supporting Community-Led Initiatives of Women’s Engagement in Peace Building and Prevention of Sexual Violence”, collaborated with the Asia-Pacific Support Collective Timor-Leste (APSCTL) to conduct a study in 2007 to contribute to the evidence base of research already conducted. It was decided to conduct a pilot study as a bench mark in two border districts of Timor-Leste, Bobonaro and Covalima to provide more evidence to inform strategies to respond to, reduce and ultimately prevent sexual and gender-based violence. Details: Bangkok: UNIFEM East-Asia, 2009. 77p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 15, 2010 at: http://unifem-eseasia.org/docs/SGBV_Baseline_study_Report_English_version.pdf Year: 2009 Country: Asia Keywords: Battered Women Shelf Number: 117818 |
Author: Bradford, John Title: Maritime Security in Southeast Asia: U.S., Japanese, Regional, and Industry Strategies Summary: Pirate activity in strategically important waterways around the globe, from the Strait of Malacca to the waters off the Horn of Africa, has garnered significant attention recently from states dependent on these waters for international trade and the free movement of goods. State responses have ranged from independently dispatching naval forces to patrol major sea lines of communication, to multinational patrols and information sharing mechanisms to increase domain awareness. Less visible, but of equal-or perhaps greater-importance are the efforts of ship owners, operators, and maritime industry groups toward increasing ship security and combating pirate attacks. Originally presented at a workshop NBR collaborated on with the Japan Forum on International Relations in Tokyo, Japan, in May 2010, this special report focuses on U.S., Japanese, regional, and industry strategies to combat piracy and other maritime security threats in Southeast Asian waterways. Details: Seattle, WA: National Bureau of Asian Research, 2010. 56p. Source: Internet Resource: NBR Special Report #24: Accessed December 16, 2010 at: http://www.nbr.org/publications/specialreport/pdf/SR24_MaritimeSecurity.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Asia Keywords: Maritime Crime Shelf Number: 120532 |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Global SMART Programme Title: Myanmar: Situation assessment on Amphetamine-Type Stimulants Summary: The Situation Assessment provides a consolidated review of the ATS (Amphetamine-Type Stimulants) situation in Myanmar and the current developments with regard to the illicit manufacturing, trafficking and use of ATS in the country. The Situation Assessment also shows that the impact of methamphetamine and other amphetamine‐type stimulants trafficked from Myanmar extends not only to the immediate neighbouring countries but also to other countries in East and South‐East Asia. Seizures of methamphetamine pills tripled in 2009 – with most seizures being made in China, Thailand, Myanmar and Lao PDR. The increase in seizures has been most pronounced in China and Myanmar itself. But this phenomenon affects most of the countries in the Greater Mekong subregion to some degree, and methamphetamine pills sourced to Myanmar have been reportedly seized even in Oceania. Continuing insecurity and renewed hostilities during the past two years between the government and the ceasefire groups appear to be connected with the observed increase in illicit drug manufacture and trafficking both within and out of the country – primarily from the Shan State of Myanmar. In 2009, the total seizures of methamphetamine pills in Myanmar, Thailand and China amounted to more than 93 million – a rapid three‐fold rise from the approximate 32 million pills seized in 2008. With more than 66 million methamphetamine pills seized in Thailand and Lao People’s Democratic Republic already this year, there is a strong likelihood that total seizures in the region for 2010 will reach, if not surpass, the total seizures recorded in 2009. There are indications that the methamphetamine problem in Myanmar is becoming more severe. In 2009, large seizures of high purity crystalline methamphetamine were made in Myanmar. Authorities in both Myanmar and Thailand confirm that the manufacture of crystalline methamphetamine is now occurring in the Golden Triangle. Although most of the crystalline methamphetamine seized in Myanmar was destined for international markets, the domestic demand for methamphetamine pills in the country continues to grow. Meanwhile, drug‐dependence treatment in Myanmar is under‐resourced and there are no treatment facilities specifically focusing on ATS dependency. The Situation Assessment however notes the need for laws and policies conducive to dealing with synthetic drugs – as opposed to opiates – and the lack of sufficient information‐sharing between relevant agencies, the lack of consolidated information and focused research on ATS use, impede adequate progress. Details: Bangkok: Global SMART Programme, UNODC, 3020. 45p. Source: Internet Resoruce: Accessed December 22, 2010 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/eastasiaandpacific//2010/12/ops-myanmar-ats/Myanmar_ATS_Report_2010_lowres.pdf Year: 3020 Country: Asia Keywords: Drug Markets Shelf Number: 120586 |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Global SMART Programme Title: Patterns and Trends of Amphetamine-Type Stimulants and Other Drugs: Asia and the Pacific Summary: UNODC launched the Global Synthetics Monitoring: Analyses, Reporting and Trends (SMART)Programme in September 2008. The Programme seeks to enhance the capacity of Member States and authorities in priority regions, to generate, manage, analyse and report synthetic drug information, and to apply this scientic evidence-based knowledge to the design of policies and programmes. The Global SMART Programme is being implemented in a gradual phased manner, with East and Southeast Asia being the first focus region. This annual report is the second regional situation assessment for East and Southeast Asia put forward under the Global SMART Programme. It forms one of the essential key steps, in providing consolidated up-to-date analysis, based on the information shared by the member countries. It is hoped that the information on drug trends presented in this report will make a practical contribution to addressing the significant threat posed by illicit ATS manufacture, trafficking and use in the East and Southeast Asia region, and place policy-makers in a better position to evaluate the drug situation and to make informed decisions on intervention and prevention strategies. This report provides an overview of the ATS situation in the region. It outlines several key issues and emerging threats throughout the region and their implications for neighbouring regions. While the data presented points towards the increased efforts by the countries in the region to tackle the ATS problem, it also highlights the need for continued and joint efforts, both at the national as well as regional levels. It is hoped that this report and the forthcoming national and regional updates, will promote better understanding of the ATS problem and help in designing effective strategies to combat it. Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2010. 158p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 3, 2011 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/scientific/ATS_Report_2010_web.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Asia Keywords: Drug Abuse and Addiction Shelf Number: 120687 |
Author: Frederick, John Title: Sexual Abuse and Exploitation of Boys in South Asia: A Review of Research Findings, Legislation, Policy and Programme Responses Summary: This paper provides an overview of research findings, legislation, policy and programme responses to prevent and respond to the sexual abuse and exploitation of boys in South Asia. The background to the paper is based on the findings from previously conducted UNICEF IRC research on child trafficking in the region, in which it was indicated that boys enjoy less legal protection than girls from sexual abuse and exploitation and less access to service for victims. While it is seen that the majority of legislation and policies that address ‘children’ adequately address ‘boys’, this paper notes areas in which the rights and needs of boys require greater focus. Among the concerns is the absence of legal commentary on legislation regarding boys’ issues and an absence of advocacy efforts to take action and amend laws to provide equal protection to boys. In some cases legislation covers only girls and women. And, although research shows that boys face nearly the same degree of sexual abuse and exploitation as girls, programming throughout the region is overwhelmingly directed at girls and women. Evidence-based information is lacking on the sexual abuse of both boys and girls and on the sexual exploitation of boys. The majority of studies to date have emphasized trafficking for sexual exploitation and have been focused on women and girls. Research on trafficking has concentrated on recruitment, transportation and sale of victims; little research has been conducted on the subsequent situations of exploitation into which children are trafficked. Some countries in South Asia are beginning to fill the knowledge gap regarding both child sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of boys. The information that is presented was mainly gathered in 2008, but it remains limited by the sources available, some of which date back several years previously. The findings are however considered to be relatively robust and consistent. The report presents concrete recommendations for strengthening legislation, policy and programmes to address this issue from a child rights based approach. It highlights that listening to boys and girls and learning from their experiences and recommendations are key to designing and implementing effective preventive and protective mechanisms. Details: Florence, Italy: UNICEF Innocenti Research Center, 2010. 165p. Source: Internet Resource: Innocenti Working Paper No. 2010-02: Accessed February 9, 2011 at: http://www.unicef-irc.org/publications/pdf/iwp_2010_02.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Prostitution Shelf Number: 120726 |
Author: Srivastava, Devyani Title: Feudal Forces: Reform Delayed. Moving from Force to Service in South Asian Policing Summary: The state of policing throughout Commonwealth South Asia is abysmal. At the end of 2007, CHRI published Feudal Forces: Democratic Nations – Police Accountability in Commonwealth South Asia. The report delved deeply into the theory of democratic policing and why it is a desirable model for the region. Its examination of policing in South Asia revealed a wholly unsuitable state of law enforcement, devoid of public confi dence. Even as some weak attempts have been made to reduce the politicisation of the police, increase its accountability, and improve its management, implementation has been poor because governments are reluctant to fully and urgently engage on desperately needed reform. In 2008, CHRI published Feudal Forces: Reform Delayed – Moving from Force to Service in South Asian Policing. The report provided the state and pace of police reforms in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, the Maldives and Sri Lanka in detail, and the concrete steps that can be undertaken to transition policing in the region from a force to a service. Besides having an additional chapter on the Maldives, the present report is an update of the 2008 Feudal Forces report. It is published at an important time. Elections were held in Bangladesh in December 2008, and a democratically elected government came into power, replacing the Caretaker Government which was in power for almost two years. Sri Lanka won its two-decade war against the LTTE. The Maldives held its first multi-party democratic elections that saw the defeat of President Maumoon Abdul Gayoom, in power since 1978. This, along with its share of implications on policing, definitely raised the hopes of police reform gaining momentum. India and Pakistan on the other hand, have experienced terrible forms of violence. Pakistan has been torn by internal strife and conflict, and India has seen some of the worst terrorist attacks and extremist violence. Reform measures in these two countries have thus been geared towards giving police more arms and ammunition, introducing new legislations and amending existing ones, curtailing civilian rights, and enhancing policing powers. In the wake of all these developments this update of Feudal Forces: Reform Delayed captures the pace of reforms, the obstacles that are coming in the way and how the so-called War on Terror is likely to affect the reform movement. Details: New Delhi: Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, 2010. 116p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 11, 2011 at: http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/publications/police/feudal_forces_reform_delayed_2010.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Asia Keywords: Police Reform (Asia) Shelf Number: 120752 |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Title: South-East Asia: Opium Survey 2010: Lao PDR, Myanmar Summary: This year’s South East Asia Opium Survey shows that while opium poppy cultivation in this region remains well below the problematic levels of the mid-1990s, the relentless rise recorded in the preceding three years continues. In addition, and despite the fact that governments have increase their eradication efforts, we estimate that potential opium production in 2010 has increased by approximately 75 per cent when compared with 2009. This has occurred largely as a result of two combined factors: more area under cultivation and higher yields. Poverty and instability are two of the drivers which push farmers to grow (or sometimes return to growing) illicit crops. The recent global economic crisis appears to have exacerbated the situation for poor communities that cultivate opium poppy. Another factor driving cultivation is the steeply rising price of opium over the last few years. Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2010. 82p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed march 14, 2011 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/crop-monitoring/sea/SEA_report_2010_withcover_small.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Asia Keywords: Drug Abuse and Crime Shelf Number: 120926 |
Author: Srinivasan, Anupama Title: Gender Violence as Insecurity: Research Trends in South Asia Summary: Across the world, gender violence is pervasive and persistent, cutting across divisions of class, caste, age and community. Across the world, data on gender violence is inadequate; there are few research initiatives that monitor, track and analyze gender violence in a sustained manner. These two statements, variations of which are common in most publications on gender violence or violence against women (VAW), represent a curious contradiction. We do not know enough about the incidence, causes, costs and consequences of gender violence; but we do know that it is highly prevalent in its many forms and manifestations and that it adversely impacts the lives of women and men across the world. The objective of this paper is to identify and analyze the state of research on gender violence in South Asia. Without research to lend direction and suggest approaches, advocacy and activism run the risk of becoming ad hoc, however well-intentioned and well-executed. The nature, quality and accessibility of research make a tremendous difference to the service, advocacy and policy-making sectors that work on this issue. Details: Santiago de Chile: The Global Consortium on Security Transformation (GCST), 2011. 31p. Source: Internet Resource: New Voices Series, No. 9: Accessed April 4, 2011 at: http://www.securitytransformation.org/images/publicaciones/197_New_Voices_Series_9_-_Gender_Violence_as_Insecurity.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Asia Keywords: Domestic Violence Shelf Number: 121239 |
Author: Lewis, David Title: Reassessing the Role of OSCE Police Assistance Programing in Central Asia Summary: This paper provides an overview of Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) police-assistance programs in Central Asia, which the organization has been administering since 2001. The paper calls for a reappraisal of the framework within which OSCE police-assistance programs are implemented. In particular, it assesses the problems of conducting security-sector reform within a nondemocratic regime, and offers proposals for a more politically informed response to security challenges in the Central Asian region. Details: New York: Open Society Foundations, 2011. 62p. Source: Internet Resource: Central Eurasia Project: Occasional Paper Series, No. 4: Accessed April 14, 2011 at: http://www.soros.org/initiatives/cep/articles_publications/publications/occasional-paper-4-20110411/OPS-No-4-04-11-2011.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Asia Keywords: Police Reform Shelf Number: 121351 |
Author: Thomson, Nick Title: Detention as Treatment: Detention of Methamphetamine Users in Cambodia, Laos, and Thailand Summary: This report examines the establishment and operation of centers to detain and “treat” methamphetamine users in Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos. It documents the increasing number of such compulsory drug treatment/detention centers (CDTDCs), examines the policies and practices that force people into them, and explores the implications for individual health, public health, and human rights. This approach to treating methamphetamine use is implemented without evidence of effectiveness, and it places people in environments where their basic health needs are unmet and abuse is pervasive. The core issue identified in this report is the use of law enforcement approaches to address health issues. Though drug policies in Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos have been amended in recent years to recognize that drug dependence is a health issue, the public security sectors in these three countries tend to trump the smaller and weaker health sectors. Illicit drug use remains a violation of criminal law in these countries, and people who use drugs are treated as criminals. CDTDCs are generally run by police or military personnel. Drug users are often detained using administrative rules rather than criminal laws, and in many cases, do not see a judge or have the ability to question or appeal internment. International actors, particularly agencies of the United Nations and donor states, face a policy conflict when confronted with CDTDCs. At the same time that they advocate for evidence-based treatment, they issue grants to agencies working with these centers or to the centers themselves. The steady growth in the construction of the CDTDCs, and the lack of HIV prevention or treatment, evidence-based and effective drug treatment, or any other medical treatment, reveal the limits of the approach. While opiate users comprise the majority of those detained in CDTDCs in countries like China and Vietnam, in many countries in Southeast Asia it is methamphetamine users who are the overwhelming majority of detainees. The production, trafficking, and use of methamphetamine in Thailand, Cambodia, and Laos pose significant challenges to both the law enforcement and health service sectors. As with other problems related to illicit drugs, finding an appropriate balance between the security needs of the community and the health needs and rights of methamphetamine users should be the ultimate goal. The current approach, however, is harmful to the health and rights of individuals, and to the health of the larger community. Details: New York: Open Society Institute, International Harm Reduction Development Program, 2010. 81p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 22, 2011 at: http://www.soros.org/initiatives/health/focus/ihrd/articles_publications/publications/detention-as-treatment-20100301/Detention-as-Treatment-20100301.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Asia Keywords: Detention Shelf Number: 121474 |
Author: Thomas, Sarasu Esther Title: Human Responses to Human Trafficking in Bangladesh, India, Negal and Sri Lanka Summary: The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Regional Office for South Asia, (UNODC ROSA) and the UN Women, South Asia signed a Memorandum of Understanding, whereby they committed to strengthen the existing cooperation in dealing with the organized crime of human trafficking in the SouthAsian countries of Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Maledives and Sri Lanka. The Protocol seeks to prevent trafficking in persons, protect victims of trafficking and promote cooperating among State Parties in order to meet these objectives. Within South Asia, the legal regime is diverse, and the SAARC Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution, 2002, represents a need and political commitment from countries in the SAARC region. Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Sri Lanka have all taken steps in the right direction to combat human trafficking; however, there is a need to look closely at country specific laws to understand where the gaps lie. It is in the light of this, that a Legal and Policy Review of Repsonses to Human Trafficking has been taken up. This Report looks at the law and policy, especially in the context of the Protocol, supplementing work already available in different studies. Details: New Delhi: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Regional Office for South Asia, 2011. 98p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 25, 2011 at: http://www.ungift.org/doc/knowledgehub/resource-centre/UNODC_UNGIFT_Responses_to_Human_Trafficking_in_Bangladesh_India_Nepal_and_Sri_Lanka.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Asia Keywords: Human Trafficking (Bangladesh, India, Negal, Sri L Shelf Number: 121492 |
Author: Foley, Kaitlyn-Elizabeth Title: Pills, Powders, Vials and Flakes: The Bear Bile Trade in Asia Summary: Poaching and illegal trade of bears, driven largely by the demand for bile, used in traditional medicine and folk remedies continues unabated across Asia on a large scale, a new report by TRAFFIC, the wildlife trade monitoring network, has found. Bear bile products were found on sale in Traditional Medicine outlets in all but one of the 13 countries/territories surveyed. The exception is Macao. Products were most frequently observed in mainland China, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Myanmar and Viet Nam, where they were recorded in over half of all outlets surveyed. The most frequently encountered products were whole bear gall bladders and pills — found in half of the outlets surveyed. TRAFFIC’s research suggests a complex and robust trade in bear products. Several of the countries/territories surveyed were either producers or consumers of bear bile products, while in some cases they acted as both. Mainland China was the most commonly reported place of origin for these products across the region. In Myanmar, internationally sourced gall bladders were reported to come solely from Lao PDR; in Hong Kong, in cases where the source was known, products were reported to have originated in Japan and over half of those offered for sale in the South Korea were from wild sources in Russia. Domestic trade of bear bile is legal under strict regulation within mainland China and Japan but is illegal in Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand and Viet Nam. Regardless of the legality of trade within countries, international trade is not allowed. Asiatic Black Bears (predominant in this trade) and Sun Bears are both listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) which prohibits international commercial trade in the species, its parts and derivatives. An analysis of the origin of bear bile products found in these surveys makes it clear that import and export regulations are commonly flouted demonstrating a failure to implement CITES requirements to stop illegal international bear bile trade effectively and protect bears from exploitation. Details: htmlPetaling Jaya, Selengor, Malaysia: TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, 2011. 67p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 16, 2011 at: http://www.traffic.org/home/2011/5/11/illegal-bear-bile-trade-rampant-in-asia Year: 2011 Country: Asia Keywords: Illegal Wildlife Trade Shelf Number: 121719 |
Author: Smith, Gerard Title: The Criminal Justice Response to Human Trafficking: Recent Developments in the Greater Mekong Sub-region Summary: This article highlights developments in the criminal justice response to human trafficking in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) over the last three years. Developments in the strengthening of the legal framework, criminal justice institutions and in support provided to victims are highlighted while acknowledging that progress has been uneven across the region. Many obstacles remain and more needs to be done to ensure that recent developments result in real change where it matters: better protected and supported victims; more and better quality prosecutions that are in accordance with international criminal justice standards; greater levels of cooperation between the GMS counties; and a donor community that is facilitating and supporting such changes. Details: Bangkok: United Nationa Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking, 2010. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 24, 2011 at: http://www.no-trafficking.org/reports_docs/siren/GMS-08_eng.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Asia Keywords: Human Trafficking (Asia) Shelf Number: 121825 |
Author: Medcalf, Rory Title: Crisis and Confidence: Major Powers and Maritime Security in Indo-Pacific Asia Summary: The sea lanes of Indo-Pacific Asia are becoming more crowded, contested and vulnerable to armed strife. The changing deterrence and warfighting strategies of China, the United States and Japan involve expanded maritime patrolling and intrusive surveillance, bringing an uncertain mix of stabilising and destabilising effects. Nationalism and resource needs, meanwhile, are reinforcing the value of territorial claims in the East and South China seas, making maritime sovereignty disputes harder to manage. Chinese forces continue to show troubling signs of assertiveness at sea, though there is debate about the origins or extent of such moves. All of these factors are making Asia a danger zone for incidents at sea. While the chance that such incidents will lead to major military clashes should not be overstated, the drivers – in particular China’s frictions with the United States, Japan and India – are likely to persist and intensify. As the number and tempo of incidents increases, so does the likelihood that an episode will escalate to armed confrontation, diplomatic crisis or possibly even conflict. This report, part of the Lowy Institute’s MacArthur Foundation Asia Security Project, explores the major-power maritime security dynamics surrounding China’s rise. It focuses on the risks and the management of incidents at sea involving Chinese interactions with the United States, Japan and India. The report concludes with some realistic recommendations to reduce risks of crisis and escalation under conditions of continued mistrust. Details: Sydney: Lowry Institute for International Policy, 2011. 71p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 30, 2011 at: http://www.lowyinstitute.org/Publication.asp?pid=1618 Year: 2011 Country: Asia Keywords: Maritime Crime (Asia) Shelf Number: 121924 |
Author: Felbab-Brown, Vanda Title: The Disappearing Act: The Illicit Trade in Wildlife in Asia Summary: Southeast Asia, with its linkages into the larger Asian market that includes China, Indonesia, and India, is one of the world’s biodiversity hotspots as well as one of the world’s hotspots for the illegal trade in wildlife and wildlife parts. Although demand markets for wildlife, including illegally-traded wildlife are present throughout the world, China ranks as the world’s largest market for illegal trade in wildlife, and wildlife products, followed by the United States. Globally, the volume and diversity of traded and consumed species have increased to phenomenal and unprecedented levels, contributing to very intense species loss. In Southeast Asia alone, where the illegal trade in wildlife is estimated to be worth $8-$10 billion per year, wildlife is harvested at many times the sustainable level, decimating ecosystems and driving species to extinction. Other environmental threats such as climate change, deforestation and other habitat destruction, industrial pollution, and the competition between indigenous species and invasive species often impact ecosystems on a large scale. But the unsustainable, and often illegal, trade in wildlife has the capacity to drive species into extirpation in large areas and often into worldwide extinction—especially species that are already vulnerable as a result of other environmental threats. The threats posed by illegal (and also legal, but badly managed and unsustainable) trade in wildlife are serious and multiple. They include irrevocable loss of species and biodiversity; extensive disturbances to larger ecosystems; economic losses due to the collapse of sustainable legal trade of a species and its medicinal and other derivate products, or of ecotourism linked to the species; severe threats to the food-supply and income of forest-dependent peoples; spread of viruses and diseases; and the strengthening of organized crime and militant groups who use the illegal trade in wildlife for provisions and financing. At the core of the illegal trade in wildlife is a strong and rapidly-expanding demand. This includes demand for bushmeat — by marginalized communities for whom wildlife meat is often the primary source of protein, and for the affluent who consume exotic meat as a luxury good. Other demand for wildlife is for curios, trophies, collections, and accessories, furs and pets. Much of demand arises out of the practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) which uses natural plant, animal, and mineral-based materials to treat a variety of illnesses, maintain good health and longevity, and enhance sexual potency, and is practiced by hundreds of millions of people. Although effective medicinal alternatives are now available—many of these TCM potions fail to cure anything, and the supply of ingredients for TCM frequently comes through illegal channels and crisis-level poaching — demand for TCM continues to expand greatly. The expansion of supply of illegally-sourced and traded wildlife has been facilitated by the opening up of economies in Southeast and East Asia and the strengthening of their international legal and illegal trade connections; infrastructure development linking previously inaccessible wilderness areas; and commercial logging. The illegal trade in wildlife involves a complex and diverse set of actors. These include illegal hunters — ranging from traditional and poor ones to professional hunters, layers of middlemen, top-level traders and organized-crime groups, launderers of wildlife products (such as corrupt captive- breeding farms and private zoos), militant groups, as well as local and far-away consumers, both affluent and some of the world’s poorest. Other stakeholders in the regulation of wildlife trade and conservation include logging companies, agribusinesses, the fishing industry, local police and en- forcement forces, and governments. Policies and enforcement strategies for curbing the illegal trade in wildlife to ensure wildlife conservation and preserve biodiversity need to address the complex and actor-specific drivers of the illegal behavior. In Southeast and East Asia, government policies to prevent illegal trade in wildlife continue to be generally characterized by weak laws governing wildlife trade, limited enforcement and low penalties. Government efforts to inform publics largely unaware of (and often indifferent to) how their consumer behavior contributes to the devastation of ecosystems in the region and world-wide also continue to be inadequate. Monitoring of captive-breeding facilities in Asia is often poor, thus facilitating the laundering of illegally-sourced wildlife and undermining the capacity of the legal trade in wildlife to curb illegal and unsustainable practices. Nonetheless, there has been intensification and improvement of government response to the illegal trade in wildlife in Asia, with many governments in the region toughening laws and increasing law enforcement, the Southeast Asian countries establishing the ASEAN-Wildlife Enforcement Network (ASEAN-WEN) to facilitate law enforcement, and even China undertaking more extensive labeling of legal wildlife products. The extent of unsustainable, environmentally damaging, and illegal practices that still characterize the wildlife trade in Asia and in many parts of the world cries out for better forms of regulation and more effective law enforcement. Unfortunately, there are no easy solutions to the problem; and almost every particular regulatory policy is either difficult to implement or entails difficult trade-offs and dilemmas. Details: Washington, DC: Brookings Institution, 2011. 43p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper No. 6: Accessed July 7, 2011 at: http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/Files/rc/papers/2011/06_illegal_wildlife_trade_felbabbrown/06_illegal_wildlife_trade_felbabbrown.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Asia Keywords: Illegal Logging Shelf Number: 122000 |
Author: Graham, Euan Title: Transnational Crime in the Fishing Industry: Asia’s Problem? Summary: On 13 April 2011 the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) launched a report on transnational organised crime in the fishing industry. It focuses on three areas: trafficking in persons to work within the fishing industry, people smuggling and drug trafficking. There are other linkages to environmental crime, corruption and piracy. The findings have particular relevance for Asia, which accounts for 85 per cent of the world’s fishers and 75 per cent of motorised fishing vessels. Southeast Asians, including children, also feature prominently among the victims of trafficking for forced labour. Details: Singapore, S. Rajaratnam School of International STudies, 2011. 3p. Source: Internet Resource: RSIS Commentaries, no. 62: Accessed July 12, 2011 at: http://www.rsis.edu.sg/publications/Perspective/RSIS0622011.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Asia Keywords: Illegal Fishing Industry Shelf Number: 122032 |
Author: Tanner, Murray Scot Title: China Confronts Afghan Drugs: Law Enforcement Views of “The Golden Crescent” Summary: The rising flow of illegal drugs from the “Golden Crescent” region—Afghanistan, Pakistan, and Iran — into western China’s Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) has caused increasing concern to Chinese law enforcement officials and analysts. This study seeks to strengthen understanding of Chinese law enforcement perceptions of the Golden Crescent drug problem by making use of previously underexploited Chinese law enforcement publications. Key Findings include the following: • Chinese law enforcement officials and analysts now see Golden Crescent trafficking as a major and rapidly growing threat to society. This view reflects a major shift from China’s earlier exclusive focus on the “Golden Triangle” region drug threat. • Chinese law enforcement analysts blame the rise in Golden Crescent drug smuggling on the increase in foreign supply rather than Chinese demand. These analyses tend to understate Chinese domestic problems, such as police corruption, ethnic tensions, and rising drug prices and demand, which may have made China a more attractive drug shipping route. • Chinese analyses of popular Golden Crescent smuggling routes emphasize highway, air, and rail routes through Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, and Kazakhstan. If correct, these analyses indicate that these four important security partners of Beijing may be failing to prevent trafficking into China across their territory. • The Chinese law enforcement writings reviewed indicate that China has serious weaknesses in its counternarcotics intelligence capabilities and is anxious to overcome them. Problems include meager clandestine intelligence on Asian drug networks, weak data on trafficking by ethnic separatists, and poor intelligence networking and sharing across jurisdictions. • Increasingly sophisticated trafficker techniques coupled with greater linguistic diversity among traffickers are frustrating Chinese law enforcement officials, who find these traffickers more difficult to investigate, detect, and interrogate. • Even though law enforcement analysts confidently assert a significant link between terrorism and drug trafficking, sources reviewed for this study provide very little solid evidence that the two are connected. Details: Alexandria, VA: CNA Analysis & Solutions, 2011. 52p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 19, 2011 at: http://www.cna.org/sites/default/files/research/China%20Confronts%20Afghan%20Drugs...%20D0024793.A1_1.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Asia Keywords: Drug Smuggling Shelf Number: 122784 |
Author: Palaung Women's Organization Title: Stolen Lives: Human Trafficking from Palaung Areas of Burma to China Summary: This report explores and uncovers human trafficking in ethnic Palaung areas. PWO has documented 72 cases of actual or suspected trafficking involving 110 people, which took place along the China-Burma border, mostly during the past six years. The majority of those trafficked were young Palaung women from tea farming communities in Namkham, Namhsan and Mantong townships. PWO surveys in villages from which women have been trafficked show that up to 41% of the population have migrated to work elsewhere. Large scale migration began after the surrender in 2005 of the Palaung State Liberation Army, which had controlled Palaung areas under a ceasefire agreement since 1991. There has been a surge of Burma Army troops and proxy militia into the area since the surrender, who have imposed increased controls and taxes on agriculture and trading. Together with rising prices of food commodities from Central Burma, and increasing costs of health and education, this has meant that tea farmers can no longer earn a living and young people have to leave home to survive. This has led to an alarming increase in the incidence of trafficking of women, men and children, mainly to China. Most of those trafficked were tricked into traveling to China by being offered well-paid jobs on farms or in factories. In 25% of the cases, women were forced to marry Chinese men, with brokers receiving up to 25,000 Yuan (approx 3,800 USD) for the transaction. 10% ere forced into the sex trade. Some ended up being used as live feed for leeches. Known destinations were mainly in Yunnan province, but some ended up as far east as Shandong. Details: Burma: Palaung Women's Organization (PWO), 2011. 60p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 27, 2011 at: http://www.palaungland.org/wp-content/uploads/2011/Report/StolenLives%20Eng.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Asia Keywords: Human Trafficking (Asia) Shelf Number: 122907 |
Author: Kabir, FHM Humayan Title: Tracing Illicit Tobacco Trade in South Asia. Focus Countries: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka Summary: As evidenced by the on-going negotiations of a protocol to combat illicit trade into tobacco products by the Parties to the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control, the illegal trade in tobacco products has come to receive international attention in recent times. Nevertheless, evidence regarding the nature, magnitude and strategies to address the problem is largely limited to Europe and North America. Illicit trade was estimated to constitute nearly 11.6 % of global cigarette sales in 2009. In Asia, illicit trade constituted 9 % of the overall sales. Existing estimates and media reports indicate Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in South Asia as highly vulnerable to this out-law trade. Illicit tobacco trade undermines public health measures such as taxation that help reduce tobacco use. Preliminary media reports from the region point towards linkages of illicit tobacco trade with extensive tax evasion, sabotage of customs and border controls and money laundering. South Asia region presents some unique challenges to regulating illicit tobacco trade. The vast variety of tobacco products illegally traded within and out of the region and the major modes of trade differ considerably from the markets in the West that are familiar to international policy makers and regulators. The inadequacies of the tax collection mechanisms and the recent spurt in Free Trade Zones in the Four-Country Research Summary region poses unique challenges to regulating illicit trade in South Asia. Research by Center for Public Integrity in the region also informs key areas for further research. In developing an effective global strategy to combat illicit tobacco trade, it is important to begin by ascertaining the nature and modes of this illegal trade, their implications for public health, economy and the society and possible means to control them. Framework Convention Alliance and HealthBridge has therefore commissioned a multi-country investigative researchexploring the nature and magnitude of illicit tobacco trade inBangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The research was conducted between November 2009 and September 2010. In-country researchers with expertise in investigative research from the four study countries gathered information on the illegal supply chain of tobacco and allied industries and analysed its contributing factors and impact on national and regional economies and public safety. The researchers engaged primary and secondary sources in gathering information. The analysis and views expressed in the country reports are solely that of the country researchers. While the study objectives varied slightly in line with country priorities, the overarching goals of the multi-country research were to: 1. Explore the nature, forms and magnitude of illicit trade in tobacco and tobacco products in the study countries 2. Describe the impact of illicit tobacco trade on national and regional economy and public safety 3. Identify challenges in controling the illicit tobacco trade 4. Identify best practices and strategies to control illicit trade in tobacco products. Details: Ottawa: HealthBridge, 2010. 97p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 4, 2011 at: http://www.healthbridge.ca/Illicit%20Tobacco%20Trade%20in%20South%20Asia.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Asia Keywords: Cigarette Smuggling Shelf Number: 123223 |
Author: Efroymson, Debra Title: Somtimes We Win: Tobacco Control Success Stories from Asia Summary: There is much to celebrate in tobacco control. Internationally we are seeing a tremendous positive momentum: country after country has banned tobacco advertising, promotion and sponsorship; made public places smoke-free; placed stronger – and in many cases graphic – health warnings on cigarette packs; and set tobacco taxes to increase over the rate of inflation. Many other countries are in the process of implementing these proven measures to reduce tobacco use. In the spring of 2010, Australia took the radical step of mandating plain packaging, which should go far in reducing the attractiveness of smoking. Yet progress is not made without difficulty. The tobacco industry has much to lose from all the gains that are being made in tobacco control, and does not accept such loss easily. While what must be done to reduce tobacco use is clear, achieving it is often another matter. In addition to the obstacles put in place by an exceptionally well-funded industry are the challenges of managing and implementing a successful program, including daily and ongoing issues of networking with many and varied partners, getting the public to understand and accept the benefits of smoke-free places, monitoring and encouraging strong law enforcement, and figuring out how to phrase the issue in such a way as to gain the interest and attention of policymakers, media, and potential collaborators. This book, in addressing the above issues and more, provides a collection of tobacco control success stories that illustrate the value of a few different approaches, raise a few questions, and remind us that, through some combination of skill, hard work and luck, we can make progress. If we learn to 2 recognize opportunities as they arise and continue to work hard and intelligently towards the passage and implementation of proven policies, then sometimes, indeed, we will win. The stories presented here are by no means representative of the region, much less the world. They have been selected based on purely practical reasons: places the author has visited and is familiar with the work. The Lao People’s Democratic Republic is over-represented, in large part because so few people know of the good work being done there. Very many more stories have been told and await being told; this collection is simply meant to raise our collective spirits and share a few ideas about successful approaches to tobacco control. Details: Ottawa: HealthBridge, 2010. 113p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 4, 2011 at: http://www.healthbridge.ca/STWW_book_final_version.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Asia Keywords: Illegal Cigarettes Shelf Number: 123230 |
Author: Lainez, Nicolas Title: A Foot In and a Foot Out: Sex Migration of Vietnamese Women to Singapore Summary: This study is the third in a series of three, the objective of which is to understand international mobility undertaken for the purposes of commercial sex purposes by low-skilled women from the Mekong Delta. In particular, this research addresses the migration of Vietnamese migrant entertainers to Singapore. This report is based on a five-month ethnographic investigation conducted in a boarding house of Vietnamese migrant entertainers in Singapore. It provides a unique picture of the social organization of the migration network operating between Vietnam and Singapore, and of the transient lives of Vietnamese entertainers in Singapore. The influx of migrant entertainers increased in Singapore in the early 1980s. The regional exchange network now includes women originating from all of the Southeast Asian countries. This includes Vietnamese, who appear to be a minority compared to other nationalities such as Filipina, Chinese, Indonesian and Thai. Singaporean authorities are undoubtedly concerned about the changing composition of the foreign entertainer population, and this is a contentious and sensitive issue in Singapore. At the same time, the authorities are concerned about enforcing the law on prostitution. The legislation does not criminalize the act per se. Rather, it enforces neutralization and containment in the Designated Red-Light Areas, as well as monitoring of the sex industry to keep exploitation and the spread of STDs and HIV/AIDS in check. Two-thirds of the Vietnamese migrant entertainers of the study were between 20 and 30 years old. A profile emerged in which slightly more than half originated from HCMC, and were lowly educated and unskilled. Family dissolution was an important feature, as nine women out of 16 were separated from their partners and four came to Singapore following a separation. These factors pushed half of the sampled migrant entertainers into prostitution in Vietnam before they decided to migrate. Their objective in coming to Singapore was to earn a substantial amount of money. Indeed, the expectation of high earnings was the chief pull factor due to the general assumption that Singapore is a rich “El Dorado” where foreign migrant entertainers can generate earnings of at least S$ 1000 (US$ 816) per month. This was a misconception on their part as many returned to Vietnam with less than that or empty pockets. In addition, a substantial part of the earnings – between US$ 1057 and US$ 1482 – was also used to cover travel and living expenses. The recruitment process of Vietnamese migrant entertainers reveals a complex network of exchange that links the Vietnamese operators within Singapore with the migrant entertainers in Vietnam. This informal and clientelist network is composed of migration brokers and their long-standing customers who introduce and assist new customers in the transnational movement between Vietnam and Singapore. The brokers are able to expand their customer base by incorporating the networks of their previous customers, who in turn become peers of the new recruits. The network appears to be a well-organized and non-exploitative voluntary exchange system. It functions effectively because of the symbiotic relationship between the migration brokers and the migrant entertainers. One of the key findings of this research is that trafficking for sexual exploitation of Vietnamese sampled women and minors to Singapore is irrelevant. As described in the report, three factors created transience in the life of the entertainers. Firstly, all entertainers entered Singapore on 30-day Social Visit Passes. This scheme does not allow foreign visitors to engage in any form of employment, including prostitution. Officials from the Immigration and Checkpoints Authority (ICA) routinely refuse entry and expel Vietnamese female travelers suspected of coming to Singapore to work in the prostitution industry. Vietnamese migrant entertainers typically rely on professional migration brokers who provide services to enable their customers to slip through the net of the ICA. Secondly, after the expiry of their 30-day Social Visit Pass, the migrant entertainers of the study faced two options: they could either return to Vietnam or extend their stay in Singapore. The majority sought to avoid raising the suspicions of the immigration authorities and returned home for a few months, before coming back to Singapore. Those wishing to extend their stay had several methods at their disposal: extending the social visit pass, exiting and returning to Singapore to obtain a new social visit pass, acquiring a Performing Artist Work Permit, or getting genuinely or fraudulently married to a Singaporean citizen or permanent resident. The decision to extend the stay depended on personal motivations and financial resources, as well as on the availability of services provided by the Vietnamese migration broker and Singaporean sponsors. Lastly, the Anti-Vice Enforcement Unit (AVEU) relies on raids and on deportations as key mechanisms to control foreign prostitution in Singapore. Red light areas like Geylang, Joo Chiat and Orchard Towers are regularly raided, and arrested entertainers are deported to their home country at their own expense. As a consequence of these three factors, the Vietnamese migrant entertainers of the study were constantly straddling Singapore and Vietnam. They were only allowed to stay in Singapore for 30 days at any one time and upon the expiry of the pass, they would return to Vietnam, with the intention of returning at another time. Consequently, while living in Singapore, they were either looking for ways to extend their stay, or thinking about their return to Vietnam. This was pervasive: upon arrival, they were already thinking about the return trip, and vice-versa. They lived lives of transience and evanescence. In fact, even when they were physically in one space, they were mentally in the other. Details: Ho Chi Minh City: Alliance Anti-Trafic, 2011. 75p. Source: Internet Resource: Research Report No. 3: Accessed January 10, 2012 at: http://www.childtrafficking.com/Docs/lainez_nicolas_footout_0112.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Asia Keywords: Human Trafficking Shelf Number: 123542 |
Author: Cipriani, Don Title: South Asia and the Minimum Age of Criminal Responsibility: Raising the Standard of Protection for Children't Rights Summary: The following sections offer a basic introduction to the minimum age of criminal responsibility (MACR) and related age limits. After establishing some practical working definitions, a snapshot of South Asian MACRs is presented, which is then matched up against MACRs in other regions of the world. Finally, a brief analysis of human rights jurisprudence – developed largely under the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) – concludes with the basic children’s rights standards for MACR provisions, and a short comparison of South Asia’s provisions against those standards. Details: Kathmandu, Nepal: UNICEF Regional Office for South Asia, 2008. 67p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed on January 28, 2012 at http://www.unicef.org/rosa/Criminal_Responsibility_08July_05(final_copy).pdf Year: 2008 Country: Asia Keywords: Age of Criminal Responsibility (South Asia) Shelf Number: 123859 |
Author: Peters, Heather A. Title: Sex, sun and heritage: Tourism threats and opportunities in South East Asia Summary: This study is the first of two recommended studies which were requested as part of the Sub-Regional Plan of Action (SPA) for the COMMIT Process. The objective of the study is to: Compile and analyze selected “best practice” of Cambodia and Thailand in dealing with trafficking and the tourism services sector. Based upon advice from a wide range of international experts, many developing countries take the tourism industry as a primary economic growth engine. Countries such as Laos, Cambodia and Myanmar have little industrial development within their borders, and few domestic products to export to their neighbors or the rest of the world. With encouragement from large international institutions such as the World Bank and the ADB, leaders in these countries have come to the conclusion that their most important resources are their natural assets; i.e., their environment and traditional culture(s) – hence, their reliance on the tourism industry to bring economic prosperity to their small economies. Despite set-backs caused by the Iraq war, followed by Sars, the tourism industry is booming. In 2004, more than 700 million tourists were recorded world wide; 119.1 million of these went to the Asia Pacific Region; and 17.8 million visited the GMS. Tourism is promoted by its advocates as a “clean” industry and one which can serve to preserve both traditional cultures and the environment. The reality is far more complex. The truth of tourism development is that while it can bring real economic benefits to local communities, underscore and strengthen local cultural traditions, draw attention to and even assist environmental protection, the potential exists for tourism to erode the very resources on which it depends. Tourism is, in essence, an external dynamic force which brings hitherto unknown and unpredictable elements into people’s lives and societies. Despite the successes of several tourism projects, the reality of tourism bringing economic benefits to poor local communities, supporting traditional cultures and protecting the environment is still an elusive ideal. For example, leakages in the GMS – except for Thailand – range between 25-40% (2005 GMS Tourism Strategy Report), a situation which indicates that the local communities are not the primary beneficiaries of tourism dollars. A circuit tour of the region’s primary World Heritage Sites, i.e. Lijiang in Yunnan, Luang Prabang in Laos, Angkor Wat in Cambodia, reveals the extreme stress the high volumes of tourists place on traditional culture. The on-going quest to increase numbers of visitors to sites is, in fact, eroding the very cultural and historical values for which the sites were inscribed as UNESCO World Heritage sites in the first place. Tourism, thus, can introduce serious negative social impacts – impacts which are not an intrinsic part of tourism development, but which sadly accompany the kinds of tourism that are expanding rapidly in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region. These serious negative social impacts include sex tourism and especially child sex tourism (CST). Both of these impacts can be linked with trafficking. The study investigates and analyzes a wide range of antitrafficking projects and activities implemented by government agencies, international agencies, non-governmental agencies and the private sector to address the “three Ps”, i.e. prevention, protection and prosecution. Because a large amount of trafficking is not directly or indirectly linked with tourism, the study concentrates on those projects which tackle the problem of Child Sex Tourism and its related solution, Child Safe Tourism. Although Child Sex Tourism is not the only form of trafficking found within the tourism industry, it is the most heinous, and is found in both Thailand and Cambodia. The study found that there were a wide range of specific stakeholders in both Thailand and Cambodia involved with tackling this problem. Details: Monrovia, CA: World Vision, 2007. 72p. Source: A report on best "practices" on tourism and traffikcing: Internet Resource: Accessed February 14, 2012 at http://wvasiapacific.org/downloads/publications/sunsexheritage.pdf Year: 2007 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Sexual Abuse Shelf Number: 117608 |
Author: Porio, Emma Title: The Use of Children in the Production, Sales and Trafficking of Drugs: A Synthesis of Participatory Action-Oriented Research Programs in Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand Summary: Since the 1990s, the use, sale, and production of illegal drugs have become a major issue in the region. In Jakarta, Indonesia, about 70 locations in the city have been pinpointed by the police as centers or “hot spots” for drug supply/trade. In the early 1990s, the Philippines was just a major transshipment point for drugs but became a net producer and exporter by the late 1990s. Thailand is one of the world’s major producing regions in the world, with the infamous “Golden Triangle” in the north bordering Myanmar and Laos has been the center for drug trade and production for generations. Reports have found a significant number of children have been found to be engaged in illicit drug use, sale, and trafficking in the Asia-Pacific region particularly in Indonesia, Philippines and Thailand. ILO Convention 182 (on the Elimination of the Worst Forms of Child Labour) considers the use of children in illicit activities, such as the use of children in the production, sales, and trafficking of drugs, as one of the worst forms of child labour (WFCL). Dangers and risks faced by children engaged in the drug trade go beyond the physical, psychological and mental disorders prevalent among drug-addicted children. Children in the drug trade/trafficking (CDT) are exposed and initiated to the world of illegal activities and criminality. Once involved, they are inextricably linked to situations of tensions, fear, suspicion and conflicts and are quite vulnerable to harassment and exploitation by both drug dealers and the police. Aside from the oppressive conditions of criminality, the engagement of children in drug-related activities is also linked to problems and tensions in their families, peer networks, and communities. Ultimately, the engagement of children/youth in the WFCL like drug sales/ trafficking, compromises their future and that of the nation. Children involved in drug sales and trafficking are difficult to trace and identify, as is often the case with other worst forms of child labour. Social and political sensitivity to the issue, the illegal and hidden nature of the trade, and the associated security risks and the potential difficulties in addressing the problem, make it necessary to use a cautious and processbased approach. ILO Convention 182 calls for ILO member countries to take steps to eliminate the worst forms of child labour as a matter of urgency. Yet, timely and appropriate interventions can only come about if there is already sufficient understanding of this problem. To this end, the International Labour Organization’s International Programme for the Elimination of Child Labour (ILO-IPEC), started executing a participatory action-oriented research (PAOR) project (hereinafter, the project) in Indonesia, Philippines, and Thailand in September 2002.1 The project aimed to develop and demonstrate an action-oriented research methodology that provides better understanding and information on the use of children in the production, sales, and distribution of illegal drugs. In the course of conducting the research, the project also aimed to reach children at risk as well as those involved in drugs through community organizing/ mobilization, training, advocacy, counseling, referrals, and networking/ linkages. At the end of the project, it also aimed to propose models of interventions for future replication or adaptation in other areas. Details: International Labour Office, International Program on the Elimination of Child Labour (ILO/IPEC), 2004. 101p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 18, 2012 at http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/documents/publication/wcms_bk_pb_24_en.pdf Year: 2004 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Exploitation Shelf Number: 98315 |
Author: Verité Title: Vulnerability to Broker-Related Forced Labor among Migrant Workers in Information Technology Manufacturing in Taiwan and Malaysia Summary: The phenomenon of trafficking for labor exploitation is importantly played out in the Philippines, which has the second highest rate of employment of its citizens abroad in the world. With some 2,700 Philippine workers leaving daily for jobs abroad and approximately eight million citizens stationed overseas, some have estimated that one in three households in the Philippines has or had a member employed abroad.1 Malaysia and Taiwan, the two “receiving” countries of Philippine workers of focus for this study, both host substantial numbers of Philippine workers each year. In 2008 there were approximately 200,000 Philippine workers employed in Malaysia;2 and 90,000, in Taiwan.3 The conditions of these Philippine workers while abroad are troublesome – one NGO has estimated that one overseas Philippine worker is killed at work each day; while 21 return home in various forms of distress, including having suffered non-payment of wages, or emotional or physical abuse.4 Verité’s own work has found all the hallmarks of debt bondage among overseas Philippine workers, including highly leveraged debt in order to finance usurious recruitment fees; deception on the part of labor brokers as to salary and job type; and, while on the job, illegal salary withholdings, compromised freedom of movement, and compulsory overtime. To illuminate the special situation of foreign contract workers and identify appropriate policy responses, Verité undertook in 2004 and 2005 a project to study both legal protective regimes and on-the-ground practices in seven countries in Asia and the Middle East.5 Verité’s findings provided important original research on the practices and processes of labor broker arrangements in particular – including fees charged by brokers and employers and financing schemes entered into to fund the fees – and the ways in which these broker arrangements affected the conditions workers faced upon arrival in a destination country. The findings from Verité’s 2005 report have been amply bolstered by more current news reports on the plight of Philippine contract workers in Malaysia and Taiwan;6 as well as by ongoing Verité audits of IT and other manufacturing facilities in those two countries and elsewhere in the region. Issues related to exploitative labor brokerage practices have consistently been referenced in US Department of State’s Trafficking in Persons (TIP) Report for Taiwan. The TIP Report for 2009 which places Taiwan at a Tier 2, cites it as primarily a destination for men, women, and children trafficked for the purposes of forced labor and commercial sexual exploitation. The report also noted that “trafficking victims are usually workers from rural areas of Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, and the Philippines, brought into Taiwan for employment in low-skilled work through various intermediaries – recruitment agencies and brokers.” The Report cites further that, “Many migrant workers are charged job placement and service fees up to the equivalent of USD 14,000, some of which are unlawful, resulting in substantial debt that unscrupulous labor brokers or employers may use as a coercive tool to subject the workers to involuntary servitude… Labor brokers often help employers forcibly deport “problematic” employees, thus allowing the broker to fill the empty quota with a new foreign worker who must pay placement and brokerage fees that may be used to subject them to involuntary servitude.”7 This current report builds Verité’s prior work, as well as the work of others. In the pages below, Verité will explore these and other factors related to labor brokers and forced labor in our research. Details: Amherst, MA: Verité, 2010. 101p. Source: Help Wanted Hiring, Human Trafficking And Modern-Day Slavery in The Global Economy Regional Report: Internet Resource: Accessed March 25, 2012 at http://www.verite.org/system/files/images/HELP%20WANTED_A%20Verite%CC%81%20Report_Migrant%20Workers%20in%20Taiwan%20%2526%20Malaysia.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Asia Keywords: Forced Labor (Taiwan) (Malaysia) Shelf Number: 124749 |
Author: Shukla, Rakesh Title: Sex Work and Laws in South Asia: A Monograph Summary: The law with regard to sex work remains among the most ambiguous pieces of legislation in South Asia. Activists working for the empowerment of sex workers or in HIV/AIDS prevention programs in the region remain unclear about even the basics of prevalent laws with regard to prostitution and trafficking. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Myanmar share a common colonial past and retain penal codes framed by the British in 1860. Thus we find common or similar statutes with regard to issues like public decency, obscenity, morality, public health (often used against sex workers) and selling or buying for purposes of prostitution. We also find sections like 377 of the Indian Penal Code and Pakistan Penal Code categorizing homosexual acts as an offence. Many laws limit the definition of trafficking to only those acts involving prostitution. This focus dates back to the United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others in 1949. The SAARC Convention on Preventing and Combating Trafficking in Women and Children signed in 2002 continues the sole focus of prostitution as the end point of trafficking. The definition of trafficking clearly confines it to the moving, buying or selling of women and children for prostitution. Similarly the category of “persons subjected to trafficking” is restricted to women and children victimized or forced into prostitution through deception, threats, coercion, kidnapping or other unlawful means. This exclusive focus does not address the issue of persons trafficked for other purposes like forced or bonded labour. On the other hand by conflating trafficking and sex work/prostitution it derails all discussion about trafficking through fraud, deceit and coercion into a debate over prostitution – de-criminalization, regulation and abolition. This monograph attempts to demystify and explain the content of the prevalent laws in the region which are relevant to activists and practitioners working in the field. The available legislations and case law have been analyzed from the point of view of the issues of conflation of trafficking and sex work, right of sex workers to live in liberty and dignity, the right to move freely, the right to reside in a place of choice, the right to migrate, forced and voluntary sex work, entry of minors, rescue and rehabilitation. The material available is uneven in respect to the countries in the region and this in turn is reflected in the document. Thus most material was available with regard to India and Sri Lanka, then Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan and the least for Myanmar, which has not been included due to our limitation in obtaining English translations of documents in Burmese. While the monograph does give unequal space to the various countries of the region, however, this is not indicative of bias but of the constraint of the availability of material. Details: Maharashta, India: Sampada Gramin Mahila Sanstha (SANGRAM), 2010. 82p. Source: Internet Resource: Monograph Series 4: Accessed April 4, 2012 at: http://sangram.org/Download/Laws_in_south_asia.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Prostitution Shelf Number: 124816 |
Author: Rao, Sandhya Title: Who Stole the Tarts? Sex Work and Human Rights Summary: The title of this monograph and all the chapter headings are drawn from Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. Besides the allusion to tarts, the pejorative term for sex workers, the farcical fantasy of Alice’s adventures in the mythical Wonderland seems an apt reference to the unfamiliarity of the terrain, and Alice’s experiences echo much of our experiences in writing this paper. Coming as we do from decades of work using the human rights framework, it is indeed difficult for us to critique it. But we see the need to revisit this framework and do a reality check as to where it has succeeded and where it has failed. The successes are well documented and therefore we choose to dwell on areas where it has not delivered as promised. We claim that the human rights framework is a necessary but not a sufficient condition to address the problems faced by some populations, in particular the sex workers. We do not claim that it has failed entirely here either. However, there is a need to take into account the issues highlighted in this monograph. In addition the title reflects some of the absurd ways human rights are constructed and applied to sex workers. The attitudes of morality that surround sex work are mirrored in much of the tale. From ground experience, the human rights framework, in the context of sex work seems to be as farcical as the trial in Alice in Wonderland. Human rights, their violations, and lack of access to the universal justice that it purports to offer, and indeed the framework itself, is the focus of this paper. How does it work with sex workers? Through a literature survey and by talking to sex workers in unstructured interviews, this paper critically engages with the dilemma that human rights presents to those in sex work. The paper attempts to inspire a lively discussion on this topic rather than provide answers. Details: Maharashta, India: Sampada Gramin Mahila Sanstha (SANGRAM), 2009. 38p. Source: Internet Resource: Monograph Series 4: Accessed April 4, 2012 at: http://sangram.org/Download/D1.pdf Year: 2009 Country: Asia Keywords: Human Rights Shelf Number: 124817 |
Author: Transparency International Title: Daily Lives and Corruption: Public Opinion in South Asia Summary: South Asians regularly have to pay bribes when dealing with their public institutions, be it to speed up paperwork, avoid problems with authorities such as the police, or simply access basic services. A new survey of six South Asian countries published today by Transparency International, the anti-corruption organisation, found that more than one in three people who deal with public services said they pay bribes. In previous surveys of this nature, only Sub-Saharan Africa had a higher rate of bribe-paying. The report, Daily Lives and Corruption, Public Opinion in South Asia, surveyed 7500 people between 2010 and 2011 in Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. The results help explain why the region is perceived to have some of the world’s highest levels of corruption, with none of the surveyed countries in the top half of Transparency International’s Corruption Perceptions Index, in which they all score less than 3.5 out of 10. Political parties and the police are the most corrupt institutions in all six countries according to the survey, followed closely by the parliament and public officials. Officials entrusted to oversee deals related to buying, selling, inheriting and renting land were the next likely to demand a bribe. Details: Berlin: Transparency International, 2011. 31p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 5, 2012 at: http://www.transparency.org/news_room/latest_news/press_releases/2011/2011_12_22_south_asia_corruption_plagues_daily_life Year: 2011 Country: Asia Keywords: Bribery Shelf Number: 124846 |
Author: Kaur, Manpavan Title: 'Recognising the Economic Relationship between Sex Workers and Sex Businesses Summary: This NTS Alert discusses the economic relationship between sex workers and sex businesses in Southeast Asia in order to critically examine hitherto narrow interpretations which posit an integral link between sex work and sex trafficking. Economic motivations of the sex industry can induce the voluntary entry of sex workers into the industry. This undermines the presumption that all sex workers are ‘victims ’ of trafficking. Hence, this NTS Alert highlights the importance of broadening the interpretation of sex work if the exploitation experienced by sex workers in Southeast Asia is to be adequately addressed. Details: Singapore: RSIS Centre for Non-Traditional Security (NTS) Studies for NTS-Asia, 2011. 9p. Source: Internet Resource: NTS Alert May 2011 (Issue 1): Accessed April 6, 2012 at: http://www.rsis.edu.sg/nts/HTML-Newsletter/alert/NTS-alert-may-1101.html Year: 2011 Country: Asia Keywords: Prostitutes Shelf Number: 124858 |
Author: Silverman, Jay G. Title: A Regional Assessment of Sex Trafficking and STI/HIV in Southeast Asia: Connections between Sexual Exploitation, Violence and Sexual Risk Summary: Sex Trafficking (Asia) -- Human Trafficking -- Sexual Violence -- HIV (Viruses) Details: Colombo, Sri Lanka: UNDP Regional Centre for Asia Pacific, Colombo Office, 2009. 46p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 6, 2012 at: http://hdru.aprc.undp.org/resource_centre/pub_pdfs/P1113.pdf Year: 2009 Country: Asia Keywords: The lack of evidence has been one of the critical Shelf Number: 118098 |
Author: Dockery, Sarah Title: Sex Trafficking in South Korea, Indonesia and China: Analyzing the Variance of Sex trafficking Levels through a Rational, Structural and Feminist Approach Summary: What explains the variance among levels of criminal participation in the sex trafficking industry in South Korea, Indonesia and China? As such, the dependent variable is the prevalence of criminal participation in the sex trafficking industry. South Korea is considered to have a low level of sex trafficking, Indonesia a medium level, and China a high level (these qualifications will be explained and discussed further later). As the research question suggests, this paper will explain sex trafficking through analyzing the role of the criminals who participate in trafficking victims, as well as the national environments in which they operate. Simply put, the international sex trafficking business would not exist without traffickers and the economic, social, political and legal contexts in which this activity takes place. The fact that individuals in different countries make the decision to become a criminal and engage in this industry fuels its persistence and growth. Instead of the victims or the consumers of the sex slavery, this paper will focus on the recruiters, traffickers, and exploiters to explain the prevalence of sex trafficking in South Korea, Indonesia, and China. One might simply conclude that South Korea has the lowest level of sex trafficking because it has the smallest population out of the three, and that China has the highest because it has the largest population. On a regional and global scale, however, the issue of sex trafficking is clearly much more complicated than that. Therefore, more complex and nuanced explanations need to be explored. To explain the variance in the prevalence of sex trafficking in these countries, three approaches will be employed: a rational approach, a structural approach, and a feminist approach. Through the rational approach, economic theories such as economic liberalism and concepts such as markets, supply, demand and comparative advantage will be utilized to explain the variation. Based on liberal economic factors and the nature of sex trafficking, this explanation hypothesizes that underdevelopment leads to higher levels of sex trafficking in a country. Second, a structural approach focuses on the role of the state as an institution. The paradigm of historical institutionalism will be coupled with Gary Becker’s economic model of crime, to analyze why individuals choose to become traffickers in this industry. Through this structural approach and Becker’s model of crime, we hypothesize that ineffective rule of law and law enforcement institutions lead to higher levels of sex trafficking. In this approach, the independent variable is the effectiveness of the institution of law enforcement, which determines of expected cost of sex trafficking. Finally, a feminist approach analyzes the role that gender inequality plays in sex trafficking in each case. Through the independent variable of gender inequality, high levels of gender inequality are hypothesized to yield higher levels of sex trafficking. Details: Memphis, TN: Rhodes College, 2010. 42p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 18, 2012 at: http://www.operationbrokensilence.org/downloads/Dockery_Sex_Trafficking_Report.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Asia Keywords: Human Trafficking Shelf Number: 125021 |
Author: Kawaguchi, Daiji Title: Brides for Sale: Cross-Border Marriages and Female Immigration Summary: Every year, a large number of women migrate as brides from developing countries to developed countries in East Asia. This phenomenon virtually did not exist in the early 1990s, but foreign brides currently comprise 4 to 35 percent of newlyweds in these developed Asian countries. This paper argues that two factors account for this rapid increase in “bride importation”: the rapid growth of women's educational attainment and a cultural norm that leads to low net surplus of marriage for educated women. We provide empirical evidence supporting our theoretical model and its implications, using datasets from Japan, Korea, Taiwan, and Singapore. Details: Cambridge, MA: Harvard Business School, 2012. 37p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper 12-082 Accessed April 19, 2012 at: http://www.hbs.edu/research/pdf/12-082.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Asia Keywords: Foreign Brides Shelf Number: 125028 |
Author: Kabeer, Naila Title: "Footloose" Female Labour: Transnational Migration, Social Protection and Citizenship in the Asia Region Summary: This paper reviews the literature on female labour migrations flows within the Asia region from a gender perspective in order to gain a better understanding of their patterns, causes and consequences as well as their implications for current concerns with social protection and citizenship. The rationale for a gender perspective stems for evidence that women migrate for different reasons than men, they migrate along different routes and the consequences of their migration are also often different. Female migration therefore poses a particular kind of challenge for social protection and for the citizenship status of migrants. In addition, from a more analytical perspective, the study of gender-differentiated movements of the population are important for the mirror they hold up to the different ways in which gender inequalities in the division of labour are incorporated into the broader and spatially uneven processes of development in an era of globalization. Details: Ottawa: International Development Research Centre, 2007. 69p. Source: Internet Resource: IDRC Working Papers on Women’s Rights and Citizenship: Accessed May 4, 2012 at: http://www.idrc.ca/EN/Resources/Publications/Pages/ArticleDetails.aspx?PublicationID=455 Year: 2007 Country: Asia Keywords: Female Immigrants (Asia) Shelf Number: 125154 |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Title: Opiate Flows Through Northern Afghanistan and Central Asia: A Threat Assessment Summary: This report describes the illicit trade of opiates along the Northern route from northern Afghanistan to Central Asia up to the borders of the Russian Federation. It has been organized in three sections. The first section begins by addressing the dynamics of trafficking in northern Afghanistan, including the groups involved, the volumes of opiate flows and opiate consumption, as well as the share that southern Afghanistan production takes in Northern route trafficking. A second section explores trafficking dynamics through Central Asia, including the methods involved and the groups managing the trade. Lastly, the final section briefly analyzes the regional capacity to respond to the threat of Afghan opiates. For the purposes of this study, ‘northern Afghanistan’ refers to both north Afghanistan and north-east Afghanistan, following the regional grouping of provinces used in the UNODC annual Opium Poppy Survey. The north Afghanistan region consists of the provinces of Baghlan, Samangan, Faryab, Sari-pul, Jawzjan, Bamyan and Balkh, while north-east Afghanistan consists of Kunduz, Badakhshan and Takhar provinces. Details: Geneva: UNODC, 2012. 106p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 15, 2012 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Studies/Afghanistan_northern_route_2012_web.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Asia Keywords: Drug Abuse and Addiction Shelf Number: 125301 |
Author: Rosander, Mikaela Nilsson Title: Illegal Logging: Current Issues and Opportunities for SIDA/SENSA Engagement in Southeast Asia Summary: This report provides an overview of the issues, root causes, and driving forces behind the crimes related to illegal logging. The report includes a comprehensive review of existing initiatives to address the challenges of illegal logging in Southeast Asia. The results are derived mainly from a literature review of various publications, websites, and project documents, but also from personal communication through interviews with people working on the issues of illegal logging in the region. The paper outlines illegal practices in the forest sector, including logging, timber smuggling, tax avoidance, illegal timber processing. Illegal logging can be seen as a symptom of wider problems. In order to combat illegal logging, it is important not only to target the symptom itself, but also to understand and address the underlying causes. Details: Bangkok, Thailand: Regional Community Forestry Training Centre for Asia and the Pacific; Swedish Environmental Secretariat for Asia, 2008. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 18, 2012 at: Year: 2008 Country: Asia Keywords: Illegal Logging (Asia) Shelf Number: 125259 |
Author: Environmental Investigation Agency Title: Attention Wal-Mart Shoppers: How Wal-Mart's Shopping Practices Encourage Illegal Logging and Threaten Endangered Species Summary: Despite Wal-Mart’s newfound corporate emphasis on sustainability, undercover investigations in China by the Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) have found that Wal-Mart is turning a blind eye to illegal timber sources in its supply chain which threaten some of the world’s last great natural forests. Wal-Mart’s ‘no questions asked’ sourcing policy is having particularly dangerous consequences for the high conservation value forests of the Russian Far East and the endangered species dependent on them, including the world’s largest cat, the Siberian tiger. EIA’s investigators see Wal-Mart’s footprints around the globe, but nowhere more so than in China, which produces 84% of Wal-Mart’s wood products. The Chinese manufacturing sector relies on large quantities of high-risk timber imported from the world’s illegal logging hotspots. In the north, thousands of train cars of wood cross the Russian- Chinese border daily from Russia’s vast Far Eastern forests. Experts estimate that 35-50% of the logging in this region is illegal under Russian law. EIA investigations into Wal-Mart’s links to this highly criminalized trade have revealed the company’s inattention to the legality of its raw materials. During 2007, undercover investigators met with eight Chinese manufacturers that supply Wal-Mart with wood products ranging from baby cribs to toilet seats. All suppliers independently attested to Wal-Mart’s strong influence and their emphasis on price as the dominant consideration for raw material procurement. All of them used wood from the Russian Far East, most exclusively so. Details: Washington, DC: EIA, 2007. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 18, 2012 at: http://www.illegal-logging.info/uploads/walmartreport.pdf Year: 2007 Country: Asia Keywords: Endangered Species Shelf Number: 125317 |
Author: Institute for Global Environmental Strategies Title: China's Imports of Russian Timber: Chinese Actors in the Timber Commodity Chain and Their Risks of Involvement in Illegal Logging and the Resultant Trade Summary: Since the end of the 1990s, the Sino-Russian border regions have witnessed a dramatic, unprecedented increase in cross-border timber trade that has made Russia the largest log supplier for China's expanding wood industry sector. Driving factors include: severe constraints in China's domestic wood supplies, the availability of rich forest resources in the Russian Far East and Siberia, liberalised trade policies and demand from both domestic and European, Japanese and US markets for low cost Chinese wood products. This study provides a contextual description and analysis of the cross-border timber trade boom and the actors involved. It examines the current challenges faced by a largely inefficient Russian forestry sector and decentralised Russian forest administration in the context of illegal logging and unsustainable forestry practices, both widely viewed as having reached serious dimensions. This study focuses on the involvement and role of Chinese actors throughout the supply chain. Chinese companies have entered the Russian forestry sector, introduced greater efficiency and proved competitive. This involvement has also opened doors for Chinese actors to inadvertently or intentionally participate in illegal activities throughout the supply chain. In addition to timber harvesting, Chinese actors are involved as intermediaries in the commercial log depots and control the wholesale timber market in some parts of Russia. Chinese actors have also increasingly invested in wood processing in Russia, partly in response to the adjustment of the Russian export tax on logs. Most recently, there has been a trend towards vertical integration for Chinese companies, with intermediaries and wood importers attempting to extend their business to every node of the trading network. On the Chinese side of the border, preferential tax policies and infrastructure investment have spurred a rapid development of the timber processing industry with private sector processing mills replacing state-owned timber processing factories. To promote responsible timber trade within this context of commodity chain transformation, the study recommends the following measures: - Establish inspection sites near the commercial depots; - Enhance the effectiveness of administrative inspection through technical improvement, harmonisation of regulations and setting-up of an integrated monitoring system; - Localise international forest certification schemes; - Chinese and Russian government agencies to provide joint guidance on documentation that could be used by traders to establish a chain of custody for forest products; - Establish a China-Russian multi-stakeholder working group to monitor the timber trade and exchange customs data in a timely manner; - Chinese government to revise its procurement policy to favour legal and sustainable wood. Details: Kanagawa, Japan: Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) Forest Conservation, Livelihoods, and Rights Project, 2008. 58p. Source: Internet Resource: Forest Conservation, Livelihoods, and Rights Project Occasional Papers No. 2: Accessed May 18, 2012 at: http://enviroscope.iges.or.jp/modules/envirolib/upload/1569/attach/1569.pdf Year: 2008 Country: Asia Keywords: Illegal Logging (Asia) Shelf Number: 125260 |
Author: Dutta, Debolina Title: Count Me IN! Research Report on Violence Against Disabled, Lesbian, and Sex-working Women in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal Summary: The count me IN! Research Report on Violence Against Disabled, Lesbian, and Sex-working Women in Bangladesh, India, and Nepal is based on the first ever multi-country research study on violence faced by disabled women, lesbian women, and female sex workers (FSWs) in three countries in South Asia—Bangladesh, India, and Nepal. CREA conducted the research study in partnership with University College London (UCL); James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University, Bangladesh; Society for Nutrition, Education, and Health Action (SNEHA), India; and Centre for Research on Environment Health and Population Activities (CREHPA), Nepal. This report collates the findings and recommendations that emerged from the three country studies carried out by the research partners, under the aegis of CREA and UCL. Although significant strides have been made towards gender equality and women’s empowerment in many parts of the world, violence against women (VAW) continues to be a pressing issue for the South Asian agenda. Violence against women who are marginalised on the basis of sexuality or gender expression is particularly high. Yet, it remains under-reported and under-addressed because of the stigma and discrimination associated with them. The study investigated the hypothesis that women who are outside the mainstream of the South Asian society suffer higher rates of violence and are often unable to seek and receive protection from State agencies. Women who are outside the mainstream on account of, for example, their sexuality (women who have sex with women), their occupation (women who sell sex), their age (women who are young and never married), or their physical or mental ability to assert themselves (women with physical or mental disability) are at an increased risk of violence. They are systematically restricted in their access to resources and are unable to fully participate in society. A global literature review of various peer-reviewed research studies, focusing on disabled women, lesbian women, and FSWs, revealed that the overwhelming majority of these were conducted in North America. Only one of the identified studies was undertaken among the FSWs in Dhaka, Bangladesh. This highlights the existence of gaps in the evidence about or from South Asia. This report is a first step towards filling in some of these gaps in research by looking at the intersections of marginalisation, gender, and violence against women (VAW) in South Asia. The fundamental rationale behind the research study was to foreground the voices of these three groups of marginalised women. The study aimed at making their concerns, experiences, and struggles central to the ways in which VAW is understood, and laws and policies are shaped. Details: New Delhi, India: CREA, 2012. 178p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 27, 2012 at: http://ilga.org/ilga/static/uploads/files/2012/5/8/08223438.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Asia Keywords: Bias-Motivated Crimes Shelf Number: 125411 |
Author: O’Donnell, Daniel Title: Juvenile Justice in Central Asia: Reform Achievements and Challenges in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan Summary: This report describes some of the positive developments in bringing juvenile justice in line with international standards in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan since their independence from the Soviet Union. The report also demonstrates that serious gaps hinder the establishment of fully compliant systems in each of the countries. None of the five countries has a specialised juvenile justice system as of yet. Prevention and reintegration policies and programmes are almost non-existent and the social sector is only rarely involved. Children can spent long periods in detention, especially pre-trial, for petty offenses. The report also points out to violence in detention, sometimes amounting to torture, and to the weakness of monitoring and accountability mechanisms across the region. It concludes with some recommendations, including one on the importance to reinforce independent mechanisms for monitoring the rights of children in the context of juvenile justice in Central Asia. Details: Geneva: UNICEF Regional Office for CEE/CIS, 2012. 68p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 29, 2012 at: http://www.ipjj.org/fileadmin/data/documents/reports_monitoring_evaluation/UNICEF_JuvenileJusticeInCentralAsiaReformAchievementsChallenges_2012_EN.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Asia Keywords: Juvenile Justice Systems (Asia) Shelf Number: 125436 |
Author: Felbab-Brown, Vanda Title: Not as Easy as Falling Off a Log: The Illegal Logging Trade in the Asia-Pacific Region and Possible Mitigation Strategies Summary: This article analyzes the pervasiveness of illegal logging in the Asia-Pacific region, the numerous threats it generates, and the effectiveness of various policies adopted to mitigate it. In doing so, it also explores the following contradictions and challenges that governments and forest policy designs face: the trade-off between economic interests in logging and environmental imperatives in preserving natural forests; the surprisingly frequent lack of complementarity between legal timber and sustainable timber and the paradox that assuring timber legality may even compound its lack of sustainability; and the challenge of designing carbon pricing mechanisms in such a way to increase not only forested land but also to preserve natural forests and biodiversity. The various governments, because of local economic and political pressures, are bound to prioritize these objectives differently. Effective designs need to be informed by local case-by-case assessments. It is not the province of this article to prescribe exactly how this should be done country-by-country. It is appropriate to insist, however, that forestry policies be pursued with full cognizance of the trade-offs and with a determination to cause as little value loss as possible in each of the realms. Such policy deliberations need to accord full weight to the less urgent, but nonetheless crucial, need to preserve biodiversity and natural ecosystems. This article provides best-practices guidance to that effect. Details: Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution, 2011. 70p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper, No. 5: Accessed July 18, 2012 at: http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2011/3/illegal%20logging%20felbabbrown/03_illegal_logging_felbabbrown.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Asia Keywords: Forests Shelf Number: 125671 |
Author: Barykbayeva, Indira Title: The abolition of the death penalty and its alternative sanction in Central Asia: Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan Summary: The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment. It represents an unacceptable denial of human dignity and integrity. It is irrevocable, and where criminal justice systems are open to error or discrimination, the death penalty will inevitably be inflicted on the innocent. In many countries that retain the death penalty there is a wide scope of application which does not meet the minimum safeguards, and prisoners on death row are often detained in conditions which cause physical and/or mental suffering. The challenges within the criminal justice system do not end with the institution of a moratorium or with abolition of the death penalty, as the problem of what to do with the most serious offenders remain. Many countries that institute moratoria do not create humane conditions for prisoners held indefinitely on ‘death row’, or substitute alternative sanctions that amount to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment, such as life imprisonment without the possibility of parole, solitary confinement for long and indeterminate periods of time, and inadequate basic physical or medical provisions. Punitive conditions of detention and less favourable treatment are prevalent for reprieved death row prisoners. Such practices fall outside international minimum standards, including those established under the EU Guidelines on the Death Penalty. This research paper focuses on the application of the death penalty and life imprisonment as an alternative to it across the Central Asia region. Its aim is to provide up to date information about the laws and practices relating to the application of the death penalty in Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan. It includes an analysis of the alternative sanctions to the death penalty, and whether they reflect international human rights standards and norms. This paper takes a country-by-country approach and focuses on: DD The legal framework of the death penalty and its alternative sanction (life imprisonment). DD Implementation of the sentence, including an analysis of fair trial standards. DD Application of the sentence, including an analysis of the method of execution, the prison regime and conditions of imprisonment. DD Statistical information on the application of the death penalty/life imprisonment. DD Criminal justice reform processes in each country. DD Abolition movement in each country. This paper provides detailed and practical recommendations tailored to each country to bring it in line with international human rights standards and norms. Details: London: Penal Reform International, 2012. 65p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 17, 2012 at: http://www.penalreform.org/files/Central%20Asia%20research%20report%20on%20death%20penalty%20and%20life%20imprisonment_ENGLISH.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Asia Keywords: Capital Punishment Shelf Number: 126063 |
Author: Sheingauz, Alexander Title: Overview of the Forest Sector in the Russian Far East: Production, Industry, and the Problem of Illegal Logging Summary: Russia and China have been bound by long-standing ties since the middle of the 17th century, with mutual trade as an important aspect. It is natural that regions such as the Russian Far East (RFE) and Southeastern Siberia developed firm links with China, because they are the closest neighbors. These relations, particularly in the timber trade, became even stronger (with some fluctuations) following World War II. Details: Forest Trends Association, 2004. 62p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 21, 2012 at http://www.forest-trends.org/documents/files/doc_115.pdf Year: 2004 Country: Asia Keywords: Illegal Logging (Russia) (China) Shelf Number: 126077 |
Author: Lebedev, Anatoly Title: Siberian and Russian Far East Timber for China: Legal and Illegal Pathways, Players, and Trends Summary: The preservation and sustainable use of Siberian and Russian Far East (RFE) forests is of global importance for a number of reasons. These forests, which are the traditional environments of many endangered species and indigenous tribes, are now supplying timber to nearby regions and countries that have largely destroyed their own forests. The vast forests of Asian Russia act as reservoirs for one-seventh of the global carbon pool. Russia holds 75 percent of the carbon stored by all of the world’s boreal forests; thus, deforestation is the second largest source of carbon dioxide emissions, after fossil fuel combustion, in Russia, as it is worldwide. Details: Washington, DC: Forest Trends Association, 2005. 45p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 21, 2012 at http://www.forest-trends.org/documents/files/doc_109.pdf Year: 2005 Country: Asia Keywords: Illegal Logging (Russia) (China) Shelf Number: 126078 |
Author: Jani, Nairruti Title: Exploring Vulnerability and Consent to Trafficking Related Migration: A Study of South Asian Bar Dancers Summary: Lack of resources in South Asian countries compel many people to migrate to other countries, some legally, others illegally. In 2005, Over 100,000 bar dancers in Mumbai became unemployed overnight when the state government banned bar dancing under international pressure. Some of these bar dancers were forced to become prostitutes; some others migrated to other countries, including U.S., for work (Chadha, 2007). While dancing in U.S., these girls are kept under heavy security, they are not allowed to talk to the patrons, nor are they allowed to go out of their designated apartment on their own. They are sent from one city to another city, and are generally unaware of their next destination. Even though these girls have migrated with their own will, their prison like situation suggests that they can be defined as victims of human trafficking. Even though the girls actually consented, they are subject to debt-bondage, earn very little income and are denied basic liberties. This ‘consensual trafficking’ has not been studied by the academic community or by the policy makers. This research studies bar dancers in U.S. and explores the factors which create vulnerability in bar dancers to consent to trafficking related migration. The main research question is (1) What are the reasons that create vulnerability among certain groups of people who either get trafficked or smuggled? This research explores a pioneering field of research which is a recent phenomenon. This qualitative research is based on grounded theory involving in-depth data collection from the informants and the researcher. The data collection was based on auto-ethnographic principles, where the researcher observes and interacts with participants and creates a detailed field note that includes researchers own perceptions about participant interactions. Findings indicate that the vulnerability to trafficking within south Asia is characterized by poverty, gender bias, caste or religion by birth, lack of education and lack of awareness. Single women are more prone to trafficking as they do not have any support systems and are required to feed themselves and their children. Lack of employable skill makes it difficult for them to find employment in South Asian competitive markets. Another significant finding is that positive social networks and family support reduced the risk of trafficking among South Asian women from rural areas to urban areas in South Asia. However, lack of family support got translated in lack of community networks for some victims who then chose to use unknown migration networks. Traffickers employed migration agents at rural areas who deceived many of South Asia women and lured them as well as their families by creating false dream jobs in foreign destinations. Some women got trapped in debt trap of these agents who paid the migration cost for the victims and enslaved them after reaching the destination. This finding relates to theory of social support, social exchange and migration theory of network. Lack of employment, increasing age, debts and acculturation in Mumbai bars were the primary contributors to South Asian bar dancers’ vulnerability to international trafficking. Older women and Muslim women were more prone to be trafficked to gulf countries where as Hindu girls and younger girls were trafficked to western countries. After the ban on dance bars in Mumbai the vulnerability of former bar dancers increased significantly due to reduced employment opportunities. Details: Arlington, TX: The University of Texas at Arlington, 2009. 184p. Source: Dissertation: Internet Resource: Accessed September 5, 2012 at http://dspace.uta.edu/bitstream/handle/10106/2015/Jani_uta_2502D_10428.pdf?sequence=1 Year: 2009 Country: Asia Keywords: Debt Bondage Shelf Number: 126271 |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Regional Centre for East Asia and the Pacific Title: Migrant Smuggling in Asia: An Annotated Bibliography Summary: The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) conducted the research in support of the Bali Process, which is a regional, multilateral process to improve cooperation against migrant smuggling, trafficking in persons and related forms of transnational crime. The research focused in particular on fourteen countries: Afghanistan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, the Maldives, Myanmar, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam (the project countries). The research had three key objectives: (1) identify existing knowledge about migrant smuggling with regard to the project countries; (2) summarize and synthesize existing knowledge about migrant smuggling, thereby making it easier for decision makers to access key data and information; and (3) identify knowledge gaps, thereby making it easier to clearly identify research prioities. The research involved a systematic search of multiple bibliographic databases, library catalogues and websites, to locate empirically-based information about migrant smuggling (and to a lesser extent about irregular migration and trafficking in persons) in the project countries. This was followed by a thematic review of all of the information that was located. The research identified 154 sources that met the research criteria, which are described in Tables I and II. The sources were then used as the basis of a thematic regional review and thematic country studies, which are published in UNODC (2012) Migrant Smuggling in Asia. A thematic Review of Literature. A summary of each of these sources is provided in this publication. The researchers allocated key words for each of these sources that reflect the research criteria. These key words are part of the 154 summaries. Details: Bangkok, Thailand: Regional Centre for East Asia and the Pacific, UNODC, 2012. 129p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 10, 2012 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/2012/Migrant_Smuggling_in_Asia_An_Annotated_Bibliography.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Asia Keywords: Human Smuggling (Asia) Shelf Number: 126286 |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Regional Centre for East Asia and the Pacific Title: Migrant Smuggling in Asia: A Thematic Review of Literature Summary: The Migrant Smuggling in Asia: A Thematic Review of Literature and the accompanying annotated bibliography offer a consolidation of findings contained in research literature that analyses migrant smuggling in Asia either directly or indirectly. !e review of the available. The body of empirical knowledge aimed to create an information base and identify the gaps in what is known about the smuggling of migrants around and out of the region. By consolidating the information currently accessible on migrant smuggling, the Thematic Review of Literature looks to stimulate and guide further research that will contribute to informing evidence-based policies to prevent and combat the smuggling of migrants while upholding and protecting the rights of those who are smuggled. The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) conducted the research in support of the Bali Process, which is a regional, multilateral process to improve cooperation against migrant smuggling, trafficking in persons and related forms of transnational crime. The systematic search for research literature in English, French and German covered an eight-year period (1 January 2004 to 31 March 2011) and 14 countries (Afghanistan, Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Pakistan, Singapore, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam). Primary research, such as the collection of statistics from national authorities, was not part of the project. The project began with a search of 44 databases, one meta-library catalogue, three institution-specific library catalogues and 39 websites of institutions that work on migrant smuggling. This resulted in 845 documents that were then closely reviewed against a set of further elaborated criteria. Ultimately, 154 documents were critically reviewed and formed the basis of this report. Abstracts of those documents are provided in Migrant Smuggling in Asia: An Annotated Bibliography. Details: Bangkok, Thailand: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Regional Centre for East Asia and the Pacific, 2012. 239p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 10, 2012 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/human-trafficking/2012/Migrant_Smuggling_in_Asia_A_Thematic_Review_of_Literature.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Asia Keywords: Human Trafficking (Asia) Shelf Number: 126287 |
Author: United Children's Fund (UNICEF) Title: Child Maltreatment: Prevalence, Incidence and Consequences in East Asia and the Pacific. A Systematic Review of Research Summary: Child maltreatment – the physical, sexual and emotional abuse, exploitation and neglect of children – has been shown through the World Report on Violence and Health (2002) and the UN Secretary-General’s Study on Violence against Children (2006) to be widely prevalent in all societies. According to recent global data, more than one in four children worldwide reported having experienced severe and frequent physical abuse, while child sexual abuse was experienced by nearly one in five females and one in eleven males. Maltreatment can have profound and damaging consequences during childhood and adolescence and throughout adult life. Children who have experienced abuse or neglect are more likely to have poorer physical and/or mental health outcomes; social difficulties, such as insecure attachments with caregivers and problematic relationships with peers, and as adults later in life; cognitive dysfunction, attributable to the negative impact of excessive stress on brain development; high-risk behaviours, such as drug and alcohol abuse, early sexual activity and resulting teenage parenting; and behavioural problems, including aggression and adult criminality. In addition to addressing these crucial dimensions of children’s rights, investing in protecting children has a direct positive impact on a country’s human capital and economic growth and reduces the burden of government spending on the long-term consequences of abuse. National child protection systems are recognized as the most effective and sustainable means to protect children from all forms of maltreatment. The absence of such a system frequently leads to incomplete coverage, and to individual violations being addressed as separate, unrelated problems. UNICEF is strongly committed to working with partners to prevent and respond to child maltreatment. The Strengthening Child Protection System Series is a package of evidence and tools to support this effort in the East Asia and Pacific Region. It provides information and guidance on the scale and nature of child maltreatment, the immediate and long-term costs of such maltreatment to individuals, families and society, and effective and sustainable policies and programmes for child protection. The series is intended to contribute to an enhanced evidence base for rights-based interventions and the development of strong child protection systems in countries across the region. This publication, number 1 in the series, presents the findings of a systematic review of research over the last decade on the prevalence, incidence and consequences of child maltreatment in the region. While qualitative studies on particular forms of child abuse and exploitation in the region are numerous, scientific research on the overall extent of child maltreatment is severely lacking. This review has applied a rigorous methodology in identifying and analysing peer reviewed research as well as grey literature on the scale and nature of child maltreatment in the region to provide as reliable a picture as possible of current knowledge and understanding. The findings are intended to support the development of a model to estimate costs of child maltreatment, as a credible means of estimating the minimum, lifetime direct and indirect costs of child maltreatment across countries in East Asia and the Pacific. Such a model can demonstrate the potential economic savings to governments and society that would accrue from effective, evidence-based policies and programmes for the prevention of child maltreatment. Details: Bangkok, Thailand: UNICEF East Asia and Pacific Regional Office, 2012. 232-. Source: Internet Resource: Strengthening Child Protection Systems Series: No 1: Accessed September 10, 2012 at: http://www.unicef.org/eapro/Child_Maltreatment.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Abuse and Neglect Shelf Number: 126289 |
Author: Elliott, Lorraine, ed. Title: Transnational Environmental Crime in the Asia-Pacific: A Workshop Report Summary: Transnational environmental crime (TEC) includes a range of activities: illegal logging and timber smuggling, wildlife smuggling, illegal fishing, the black market in Ozone Depleting Substances (ODS), the illegal movement of prohibited or regulated chemicals and hazardous and toxic wastes and, potentially, an illegal market in genetically modified organisms and illicitly obtained genetic material. Globally, the scale of transnational environmental crime has been estimated to be a black market similar in value to that of drugs or arms. The transnational dimension of this broad range of activities arises because the goods or commodities are sourced illegally and then smuggled across borders, or because they are traded in contravention of international conventions such as the Montreal Protocol (on substances that deplete the ozone layer) or CITES (the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora) or the Basel Convention on the Transboundary Movement of Hazardous Wastes, or because the profits and/or perpetrators move across borders. Some commodities are laundered into the licit economy whereas others remain in the shadow illicit economy. The ‘chain of custody’ crimes associated with environmental smuggling range from small scale opportunistic activity through to systematic and large-scale organized crime that involves money laundering and corruption, parallel trading and the exchange of illegal environmental goods for other forms of illicit commodities. In the Asia Pacific, as the short papers in this workshop report attest, these are serious problems with consequences for environmental degradation and sustainable development, good governance, security, the legitimacy of legal institutions, national economies, markets, civil society and local communities. These are not, of course, simply problems ‘out there’ and we should not fall into the trap of reducing these to ‘developing country’ problems. Developed countries generate demand and provide markets for illegal environmental resources. The profits of illegal environmental goods are sometimes laundered through developed countries, facilitated by criminal groups and otherwise legitimate actors in those countries. Yet while other forms of transnational crime such as drugs smuggling, arms trafficking, people smuggling and terrorism have attracted considerable public and policy attention, TEC has been paid much less attention by academics and policy-makers alike even though it generates similar kinds of policy challenges. There is an extensive body of work within the environmental literature on individual types of illegality but little done on developing a more comprehensive global governance or international relations approach to this category of illegal transnational and global activity.2 The public Forum and round-table Workshop whose results are reported here were intended in part as a corrective to this. Rather than re-establishing the narratives about particular problems, the focus in the papers and in discussions was on policy responses. A number of important issues informed that discussion: • where should intervention be directed – prevention, interdiction, enforcement, punishment? • what do we need to manage these interventions – is this a matter of more resources and effective capacity? Or do we face broader problems of policy incoherence? • what lessons can we learn from existing policy responses in the region? Details: Canberra: Department of International Relations, RSPAS, The Australian National University, 2007. 87p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 25, 2012 at: http://ips.cap.anu.edu.au/ir/tec/publications/Transnational_environmental_crime_Asia_Pacific_workshop_report_TEC_Workshop_Report_2007.pdf Year: 2007 Country: Asia Keywords: Hazardous Wastes Shelf Number: 126444 |
Author: Tuiketei, Timaima Title: Violence against Women - A Public Health Perspective: Project Report Fiji 2010 Summary: WHO launched the Global Report on "Violence and Health" in 2002. The recommendations include a call on member countries to: create, implement and monitor a national action plan for violence prevention; enhance capacity for collecting data on violence; define priorities and support research on prevention of violence; promote primary prevention responses; strengthen responses for victims of violence; integrate violence prevention into social and educational policies, and thereby promote gender and social equality; and increase collaboration and exchange of information on violence prevention. The regional profile presents data collated from published sources in the Asia-Pacific region according to the five areas: HIV prevalence and epidemiological status; Vulnerability and HIV knowledge; Risk behaviours; Socio-economic impact of the epidemic; and National response. The data sources include Epidemiological fact sheets, Demographic and Health Surveys (DHS), Behavioural Surveillance Survey (BSS), United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) Report, AIDS Indicator Surveys (AIS), Multiple Indicator Cluster Surveys (MICS) and others. Details: Manilla: World Health Organization, Western Pacific Region, 2010. 51p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 11, 2012 at: http://aidsdatahub.org/dmdocuments/Fiji_VAW_Project_report_Final_Jan_2011_24.1.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Asia Keywords: Domestic Violence (Asia, Pacific Region) Shelf Number: 126671 |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Title: Misuse of Licit Trade for Opiate Trafficking in Western and Central Asia: A Threat Assessment Summary: Over the last decade, economic relations between countries in Western and Central Asia have greatly improved. The introduction of a number of trade agreements that have removed or reduced trade barriers has resulted in a marked increase in trade in the region. Dry ports play a key role in regional trade and in particular in facilitating the movement of goods between different forms of transportation within the Western and Central Asian transport network. Goods arrive at and depart from dry ports by a range of modes of transport, including by road, rail, inland waterways and airports, and the ports provide services for the handling and temporary storage of containers and general and/or bulk cargo. For countries in the region with no direct access to the sea, such as Afghanistan, dry ports are crucial hubs for commercial trade. In order to facilitate the movement of goods across borders, a number of trade agreements have been implemented to reduce the level of customs inspections at dry ports and border control points and to standardize transport regulations. However, while the volume of trade handled at dry ports in the region has increased, there has been no corresponding expansion in the level of law enforcement in these locations. This report analyses the role of dry ports in the regional trade network and highlights the risk of their abuse by drug traffickers. It also contains an in-depth analysis of the ways in which drug traffickers abuse the trade network to smuggle opiates. Many of the problems and risks that are identified in relation to trade agreements, dry ports and the transportation network in Western and Central Asia can also be applied to many other regions in the world. The report is divided into three sections. The first section contains an overview of the major trade routes used to transport goods in Western and Central Asia, and an explanation of the role of dry ports in the regional transportation network. The second section contains an overview of the eight major bilateral and regional trade and transit trade agreements that Afghanistan has entered into over the last 10 years. Each overview is broken down into five parts, comprising: A brief introduction of the trade agreement; An outline of the trade and/or transit trade levels and routes used in the relevant countries; A description of the transportation and customs regulations contained in the agreement; An analysis of the functions, trade capacity and law enforcement capacity of dry ports along the specific trade routes; and, An overview of opiate and chemical precursor trafficking at trade and transit routes and dry ports. The third section contains a discussion of the ways in which opiates are trafficked by sea from South-West Asia to East Africa. Details: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2012. 130p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 13, 2012 at http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Studies/Opiate_Trafficking_and_Trade_Agreements_english_web.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Asia Keywords: Drug Trafficking Shelf Number: 126689 |
Author: Godwin, John Title: Sex Work and the Law in Asia and the Pacific: Laws, HIV and Human Rights in the Context of Sex Work Summary: Nearly all countries of Asia and the Pacific criminalize some aspects of sex work. Criminalization increases vulnerability to HIV by fuelling stigma and discrimination, limits access to sexual health services and condoms. The report clearly distinguishes between adult consensual sex work and human trafficking for sexual exploitation. Removing legal penalties for sex work allows HIV prevention and treatment programmes to reach sex workers and their clients more effectively. These are some of the findings in an unprecedented study issued today by the UN Development Programme (UNDP), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS). Sex Work and the Law examines 48 countries in Asia and the Pacific to assess laws, legal policies and law enforcement practices that affect the human rights of sex workers and impact on the effectiveness of HIV responses. Where sex work has been decriminalized, there is a greater chance for safer sex practices through occupational health and safety standards across the industry. Furthermore, there is no evidence that decriminalization has increased sex work. The report describes countries that use punitive law enforcement practices, confiscate condoms as evidence of illegal conduct, require compulsory or coerced HIV testing, deny government services and certain rights to sex workers, and have compulsory detention centres. The report notes: •Eleven countries where sex workers report condom confiscation or police harassment for possessing condoms (China, Fiji, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Nepal, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Vietnam). •Six countries that require mandatory testing of sex workers for HIV or sexually transmitted infections (STIs) as a condition of employment (Guam (unincorporated territory of the United States), Indonesia, Philippines, Singapore, Thailand, and several states of Australia); and three countries where compulsory or coerced HIV testing for sex workers has been reported (China, India and Vietnam). •At least four countries in which compulsory detention of sex workers for rehabilitation or re-education is reported (China, India, Myanmar, Sri Lanka). Roy, UNDP Asia-Pacific Regional Centre Manager. The report highlights current laws, policies and practices that are helpful to HIV responses. A snapshot: •Decisions of the Supreme Courts of Bangladesh, India and Nepal recognize the human rights of sex workers. •The Ministry of Interior of Cambodia issued a Directive that condoms will not be used as evidence for arrest. •Legislation in Fiji and Papua New Guinea make it unlawful to deny a person access to condoms or other means of protection from HIV. •National HIV laws in Cambodia, Fiji, Lao PDR, Papua New Guinea and the Philippines offer some protections in areas such as prohibition of compulsory testing, and rights to confidentiality and to protection from discrimination for those who are HIV-positive. •Legislation in Vietnam requires the government to implement harm reduction interventions including condom programmes with sex workers, and protects peer educators from prosecution. •Rules of the Social Security Fund of Thailand enable sex workers to access state social security benefits. The report also highlights how significant advances in recognition of the rights of sex workers can occur even in contexts where the sex industry is illegal. For example, education of police and empowerment of sex workers has helped to reduce human rights violations in India and Thailand, and health authorities in many countries now actively support sex worker organizations to deliver HIV prevention programmes to their peers. Details: Bangkok, Thailand: United Nations Development Programme, UNCP Asia-Pacific Regional Centre, 2012. 212p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 26, 2012 at: http://www.snap-undp.org/elibrary/Publication.aspx?ID=699 Year: 2012 Country: Asia Keywords: HIV (Viruses) Shelf Number: 126809 |
Author: Lam, Timothy Title: Market Forces: An Examination of Marine Turtle Trade in China and Japan Summary: Marine turtle shell remains a much sought-after commodity, as well as turtle meat and whole specimens, and as a result, Hawksbill Turtle and other marine turtle populations are under heavy exploitation pressure. Evidence from current seizure records and market surveys highlight a consistent illegal trade route to mainland China from the Coral Triangle region of South-east Asia (mainly the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia). This report analyses 128 seizures involving the East Asian countries between 2000 and 2008, with a trade volume of over 9180 marine turtle products including whole specimens (2062 turtles), crafted products (n = 6161 pieces) and raw shell (789 scutes and 919 kg). The demand for marine turtles and their shell products in Hainan Province and the rest of mainland China is of an increasing magnitude. Mainland China is undoubtedly a major market for illegal trade with 150 whole specimens and 7217 processed shell products observed for sale in 117 shops with a value of nearly half a million USD. Traditional Chinese Medicine markets were found to be selling 159 kg of shell. The open sale of marine turtle products undoubtedly indicates the demand for marine turtles in China, and seizure records are evidence of the heavy exploitation that is occurring to meet this demand. In the period of this study, 2017 individual turtles were confiscated in seizures implicating mainland China. This equates to 98% of the whole specimen trade in the region. Taiwan appears to be a significant market for processed shell items with a single seizure confiscating 6120 pieces. Seizures in Hong Kong were mostly confiscated shell scutes hidden in cargo consignments, with the largest seizure involving 556 kg. Available information shows that the number of seizures in the region has been increasing, with 2007 and 2008 recording the highest number of apprehensions. Authorities in China have seized 539 whole specimens, but the volume of whole marine turtles confiscated in international seizures which implicated Chinese nationals was 1478 turtles. Most local fishermen interviewed considered marine turtles to be a valuable by-catch species. However, there are indications that some fishing vessels from China are directly targeting marine turtles. The revenues generated by this commerce are sufficient to encourage Chinese nationals to venture into foreign territorial waters overriding concerns of enforcement and penalties. The largest seizure reported during the study period involved 387 dead turtles aboard a Chinese fishing vessel in the Derawan Archipelago in East Kalimantan (Indonesia). It is presumed that poachers are targeting source locations widely distributed across the Sulu and Celebes Sea (Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion). With current population declines, it appears that turtle poachers are now travelling to more distant fishing areas to fill their catch, and potentially remaining in foreign waters surrounding remote archipelagos to fill their cargo. In Japanese markets, the demand for highly decorative bekko pieces skilfully manufactured from Hawksbill marine turtle shell remains persistent. In 58 shops visited in Tokyo, Nagasaki and Okinawa, we found 11 080 bekko items for sale. From reports of seizures entering the country, it was apparent that import shipments of marine turtle into Japan were only the raw scutes, which had been removed from the turtle carapace. All consignments of marine turtle shell were exported to Japan by mail or air. The largest seizures involved 89 kg and 400 pieces of shell product imported from Indonesia. However, seized scute shipments were generally small and potentially easily concealed, hence, exporters smuggled packages by mail and air into Japan. After its removal from the turtle, the raw scute, which is the principal export product in this trade, can be stored dry without special treatment for years. It is therefore probable that the true extent of the marine turtle trade in Japan is more easily concealed because the trade was only in scutes and the number of marine turtles harvested is difficult to estimate. This trade in scutes contrasts greatly with that of the whole specimens recorded in China, which allows a direct count of the number of animals involved in the marine turtle trade. Poaching pressure on marine turtle populations can be attributed to commercial demand at a regional (Asia) and global scale, inadequate enforcement of laws, but also the socio-economic needs of both the source and consumer countries. There are significant contrasts between the markets of China and Japan, based on consumer demand, commodity value, trade volume and even product-type. However, the source of marine turtles was similar in China and Japan with nationals from both countries involved in seizures of marine turtles sourced from countries in South-east Asia. Poaching by foreign vessels in the territorial waters of neighbouring countries is a serious conservation problem. Equally, profit-seeking subsistence fishermen are often exploited by their own countrymen. Undoubtedly, the scale of trade across China and the motivation of Chinese nationals to harvest in foreign waters clearly implicate China as a major player in this global trade. This study aimed to compile information comprehensively from seizure records and market surveys in China and Japan. This report draws attention to the Coral Triangle as being the target region for poaching marine turtles, and the scale of trade places significant pressure on marine turtle populations in the Sulu-Sulawesi Marine Ecoregion. Details: Hong Kong: Traffic East Asia, 2011. 58p. Source: Internet Resource: Traffic East Asia Report: Accessed November 9, 2012 at: http://awsassets.panda.org/downloads/traffic_marketforces_examination_marineturtle_trade_china_japan.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Asia Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 126893 |
Author: Kasterine, A. Title: The Trade in South-East Asian Python Skins Summary: South-East Asian pythons are heavily exploited for skins, food and traditional Chinese medicines, with nearly half a million python skins alone exported annually. The trade provides cash income for a large, but unknown, number of rural people across the region that collect, breed and process pythons. The high number of skins traded has raised concerns about the conservation impact of harvests upon wild python populations and the potential animal welfare issues associated with this trade. This report describes the trade flows for the five most heavily traded python species from South-East Asia (Python reticulatus, Python molurus bivittatus, P. curtus, P. brongersmai and P. breitensteini). It identifies the main points of value addition in the supply chain and considers aspects of illegality. In addition, it reviews the current understanding related to the sustainability and welfare issues regarding python harvesting for the skin trade and offers a series of recommendations to help guide relevant stakeholders, including CITES, governments, the private sector and NGOs, on improving the mechanisms by which trade operates. Details: Geneva: International Trade Centre, 2012. 74p. Source: Technical Paper: Internet Resource: Accessed December 16, 2012 at http://www.intracen.org/uploadedFiles/intracenorg/Content/Publications/The%20Trade%20in%20Southeast%20Asian%20Python%20Skins%20for%20web.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Asia Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 127222 |
Author: Kar, Saibal Title: Corruption, Shadow Economy and Income Inequality: Evidence from Asia Summary: A number of recent studies for Latin America show that as the size of the informal economy grows, corruption is less harmful to inequality. We investigate if this relationship is equally compelling for developing countries in Asia where corruption, inequality and shadow economies are considerably large. We use Panel Least Square and Fixed Effects Models for Asia to find that both ‘Corruption Perception Index’ and ‘ICRG’ index are sensitive to a number of important macroeconomic variables. We find that in the absence of the shadow economy, corruption increases inequality. However, with larger shadow economies in South Asia, the income inequality tends to fall. Details: Bonn, Germany: Institute for the Study of Labor (IZA), 2012. 31p. Source: Internet Resource: IZA Discussion Paper No. 7106: Accessed January 29, 2013 at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp7106.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Asia Keywords: Corruption (South Asia) Shelf Number: 127415 |
Author: Yong-an, Zhang Title: Asia, International Drug Trafficking, and U.S.-China Counternarcotics Cooperation Summary: The end of the Cold War may have heralded an end to certain tensions, but among other unforeseen effects it also precipitated a significant increase in the flow of illegal drugs across traditional national boundaries. International travel has become easier in an increasingly borderless world, and―although international drug trafficking organizations (DTOs) have never respected national boundaries―newly globalized markets for drug production and exportation, along with changing patterns of consumption in some societies, have had an enormous impact on drug trafficking. In short, the global market for illicit drugs, and the capacity of providers to deliver to this market, is expanding inexorably around the world. What was once called “the American disease” has become a global one. The international community first took an interest in the Asian drug trade at the beginning of the 20th century. The Shanghai Opium Commission in 1909 was the first attempt at regulating drug trade in the region, as countries including the United States, Great Britain, China, Japan, and Russia convened to discuss the growing trafficking of opium. Since then, numerous measures have been adopted by individual countries and collectively to curb the illegal drug trade. This has been especially true since the launch of the “war on drugs.” In spite of these enhanced efforts, the global opiate market has nevertheless exhibited increased growth since 1980. Data gathered by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) indicate global opium production increased by close to 80 percent between 1998 and 2009. The UNODC reports that nearly all of the world’s illicit opium and heroin production is concentrated in “Afghanistan, South-East Asia (mostly Myanmar) and Latin America (Mexico and Colombia). Afghanistan stands out among this group, accounting for around 90 percent of global illicit opium production in recent years.” Upwards of 90 percent of the global heroin and morphine production is provided by Afghanistan and Myanmar. Clearly, the global opiate market has neither been eliminated nor significantly reduced since 1998. Asian drug trafficking remains a serious threat to both China and the United States. In order to confront this common threat, since 1985 China and the United States have taken numerous steps to cooperate in the interdiction of cross-border drug trafficking. Together, they have made outstanding achievements in the prevention of Asian drug trafficking and in the eradication of opium poppy cultivation in the Golden Triangle region that comprises parts of Myanmar, Vietnam, Laos, and Thailand. Bilateral cooperation, however, has not been wholly successful, and Beijing and Washington face a daunting set of challenges regarding cross-border drug trafficking. The two nations must reconsider both new and old challenges in both regional and global contexts in their efforts to promote counternarcotics cooperation. This paper will assess the various threats and challenges that China and the United States face from international Asian drug trafficking. It will examine the historical roots of counternarcotics cooperation between China and the United States, will analyze the limits of this bilateral cooperation, and will provide policy recommendations for the two governments on how to better confront these threats. Details: Washington, DC: The Brookings Institution 2012. 22p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 30, 2013 at: http://www.brookings.edu/~/media/research/files/papers/2012/2/drug%20trafficking%20zhang/02_drug_trafficking_zhang_paper.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Asia Keywords: Border Security Shelf Number: 127442 |
Author: Riskiyani, Shanti Title: Barriers to Health and Other Services for Ex-Prisoners Summary: The National Survey of Drug Abuse Development reported that the police had caught 1 of 5 abusers; even 1 of 2 injection addicts had dealt with police. Furthermore, there was 1 of 7 respondents in the survey admitted that had been in prison, especially the injection addicts group. One of the strongest lessons from the end of the last century is that public health can no longer afford to ignore the prisoner health. The rise and rapid spread of HIV infection and AIDS, the resurgence of other serious communicable diseases such as tuberculosis and hepatitis and the increasing recognition that prisons are inappropriate receptacles for people with dependence and mental health problems have thrust prison health high on the public health agenda (WHO, 2007). Substance use disorders among inmates are at epidemic proportions. Almost twothirds (64.5 percent) of the inmate population in the U.S. (1.5 million) met medical criteria for an alcohol or other drug use disorder. Prison and jail inmates are seven times likelier than are individuals in the general population to have a substance use disorder (Califano et.al, 2010). This activity was carried out as an advocacy tool, as an important part of the strategy in implementing Harm Reduction Network in raising the issue of drug user’s especially former prisoners. Particulary to explore the information about health services accessed by former prisoners narcotics, to explore the availabality of health services for the former prisoners and exploring accessed of former prisoners to the health services. By taking samples in seven provincial cities, the recording process is done by an objective and conducted by the research team. We’re collecting data using a qualitative method, data collection through in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. The instrument used in this study had previously been tested in two provinces, Medan –a city as the representation of western region- and Bali, for the eastern region. The results of this trial had then been discussed in a meeting attended by FHI staff, NGO staff of Charisma, Ministry of Health officials, Directorate General of Corrections and UNODC, to get feedback on improving the instrument. The results of this meeting was followed by a Data Collecting Team workshop and delivered new instrument that was then used in the farther data collection. Our workshops were conducted to similize perceptions of the reseracher members in the process of data collection in the field. Details: Indonesian Harm Reduction Federal; United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, 2012. 97p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 31, 2013 at: http://dl.dropbox.com/u/64663568/library/Final-Rep-UNODC-Eng.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Asia Keywords: Drug Addiction Shelf Number: 127459 |
Author: von Meibom, Stephanie Title: Saiga Antelope Trade: Global Trends with a Focus on South-east Asia. Summary: The Saiga Antelope Saiga tatarica inhabits the semi-arid deserts of Central Asia; it is found in Kazakhstan, Mongolia, the Russian Federation and in parts of Turkmenistan and Uzbekistan. The species has been hunted for its horns, meat and hides for several centuries and there are records of historic exports of Saiga Antelope horns (henceforth referred to in this summary as Saiga horns) to China in the 18th century. By the early 20th century, hunting had reduced Saiga Antelopes to near-extinction but, following a ban on hunting, the populations recovered and commercial hunting of Saiga Antelopes resumed in the 1950s and continued until the late 1990s. However, the situation changed dramatically with the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s and resulted in a sharp increase in poaching of Saiga Antelopes throughout the species’s range. Over the last 10 years the population has shown a decline of over 90%, mainly owing to poaching for trade in Saiga horns and other products, such as meat. The horns, which are only borne by the males, are the main target of poachers and are traded to East and South-east Asia, where they are used in traditional Asian medicine. The selective hunting of males has resulted in a skewed sex ratio and reproductive collapse. The global population of the nominate subspecies, S. t. tatarica, is now estimated to be at around 56 300–61 300 animals, down from 1 250 000 in the mid-1970s. China is the largest importer of Saiga horns. However, South-east Asia is also known to have a large demand for Saiga horns for use in traditional medicines and to play an important role as a trading or transit region for Saiga horns. Since 2002, the Saiga Antelope has been listed as Critically Endangered in the IUCN Red List of Threatened Species and it has been listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) since 1995. It is also listed in Appendix II of the Convention on the Conservation of Migratory Species of Wild Animals (CMS). The aim of this project, which was commissioned by the CITES Secretariat, was to compile up-to-date information on current trade in Saiga products and derivatives, focusing on some key areas. These key areas included analysis of global trade in Saiga parts and derivatives, undertaking market research in Malaysia and Singapore, compiling information on the population status, levels of poaching and trade in Kazakhstan, the Russian Federation and Uzbekistan, and providing information on the availability and management of stockpiles of Saiga parts in some important consumer States, such as China. More general information on the demand, availability and recent trade trends in Saiga horns in China has been recently compiled by the Wildlife Conservation Society on behalf of the CITES Secretariat. The information used in this report was compiled from literature references and interviews with Saiga Antelope experts and government officials, market surveys in Malaysia and Singapore, and an analysis of global trade figures for Saiga parts and derivatives, as recorded in the CITES trade database. Details: Cambridge, UK: TRAFFIC Europe, 2010. 56p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 12, 2013 at: http://www.trafficj.org/publication/10-Saiga_Antelope_Trade.pdf Year: 2010 Country: Asia Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 127922 |
Author: Lack, Mary Title: An Overview of Shark Utilisation in the Coral Triangle Region Summary: This report, An Overview of Shark Utilization in the Coral Triangle Region, examines the catch, trade, and management of sharks in waters of the six Coral Triangle countries, plus the neighbouring countries of Vietnam and Fiji. Despite long-standing global concerns on declining shark populations due to growing evidence that many shark species are threatened, shark populations continue to decline. This is due to a general lack of even basic management, and is further exacerbated by illegal, unreported, and unregulated (IUU) fishing. Some fisheries target sharks for their meat but the main driver of unsustainable fishing for sharks is currently the demand in Asia for fins, which are used in shark fin soup. Today, the vast majority of shark products come from unsustainable sources, not just fins. Sharks are also heavily traded for their meat, skin, and liver oil. Details: Cambridge, UK: TRAFFIC; Jakarta, Indonesia: World Wildlife Fund, 2012. 52p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 14, 2013 at: Year: 2012 Country: Asia Keywords: Illegal Wildlife Trade Shelf Number: 127935 |
Author: Schoppe, Sabine Title: Status, Trade Cynamics and Management of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle Cuora Amboinensis in Indonesia Summary: The Southeast Asian Box Turtle Cuora amboinensis - one of 29 native freshwater turtles in Indonesia - is a globally vulnerable species and the survival of substantial populations in general is particularly threatened by the extensive international trade for consumption and Traditional Chinese Medicine (TCM) to East Asian countries. In order to control the trade, the species and its congeners were included in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 2000. Prior to the export of Appendix II species from a country of origin, a so-called nondetriment finding (NDF) should be conducted to determine the number of individuals that can be harvested without a negative impact on the survival of wild populations. Such a finding should be the basis for any annual harvest and export quota of the species. An NDF however requires knowledge on socioeconomic factors and of species’ life history, distribution, population densities and threats. Indonesia is the main supplier of Cuora amboinensis to the international meat, TCM and pet markets but no scientifically-based assessment has formed the basis for a NDF and the current national harvest quota of 20 000 individuals per year is based on the export realisation of previous years rather than on the results of comprehensive scientific surveys. Considering the above, TRAFFIC Southeast Asia identified the Southeast Asian Box Turtle as a heavily traded species to be used as a case study for science-based management, which could serve as a model for other CITES Appendix II species (particularly reptiles) in trade. The present study therefore aimed to review information on the biology and ecology of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle, assess the legislation in place to regulate trade in wildlife especially in freshwater turtles and tortoises, identify past and current harvest and trade levels, and determine whether the abundance of the species has changed over time. The literature review revealed that the Southeast Asian Box Turtle plays an undefined but likely important role in food webs of wetland ecosystems, and serves as seed disperser. Therefore, its temporary or permanent removal from its natural habitats leads to an imbalance of the ecosystem structure, the significance and consequences of which currently cannot be determined. The species has a low and relatively slow growth. The Southeast Asian Box Turtle has a low reproductive rate: in captivity, it might reach maturity in four years and five months; in the wild it will take about 5½-6 years to attain maturity, and one female produces an average of only six eggs per year, three of which might reach juvenile stage. The species is adaptable to man-made habitats which makes it very accessible for harvest. There are only very few if any properly protected areas in Indonesia, whose turtle populations could serve as assurance colonies. Despite being a commensal species, it is nowadays difficult to find a Southeast Asian Box Turtle in the wild near residential or agricultural areas in Indonesia. Its life cycle combined with continuous harvest for the food and TCM trade has led to over-exploitation of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle in Indonesia and to local extinction around trade centres. The present study concentrated on harvest and trade centres in Java, Sulawesi, Sumatra and Kalimantan was conducted from March to July 2006 and indicated a decline in the mean size of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle as a result of long-term over-exploitation of adults. In Indonesia, local utilization of the species is negligible but international trade for consumption and TCM is extensive and represents the major threat to the survival of the species. Illegal trade is extensive and includes all levels and kinds of traders such as collectors, middlemen, suppliers and exporters of registered and unregistered companies. Also alarming is the extent of plastrons and carapaces illegally traded, which mostly remain undetected due to easy concealment. The population size of the species in two hectare of a peat swamp forest in a protected area, the Taman National Rawa Aopa Watomohai in the south-east of the island of Sulawesi was estimated to be 120 individuals or 60 individual/ha. The population composition in terms of immature to mature ratio was almost 1:1 (54.9% immature and 45.1% mature). Harvest surveys of the species in an openly accessible area in East Kalimantan have shown that four middlemen alone easily assemble more than half of the nation’s annual quota in one year. The composition of harvested individuals in the study site in Kota Bangun, East Kalimantan was significantly in favour of large adults (95.8%) and contained only 4.2% immature individuals. Most of the Indonesian registered pet traders stated that nowadays it is more difficult to get a certain number of individuals compared to some 5-10 years ago. Generally, populations of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle near centres of trade are over-exploited and in many cases, even locally extinct. The main ports of illegal exports are Jakarta, Banjarmasin, Makassar, Tembilahan, Medan and Pekanbaru. Major international destinations are Hong Kong SAR, mainland China, Singapore and Malaysia. Illegal export in the species is believed to far exceed the number of individuals that can be legally exported (18 000 individuals). The most conservative estimate is that illegal trade amounts to 10 times the volume of legal trade, but probably it is rather 100 times the volume of legal trade. A total trade ban is not expected to solve the problem of unsustainable harvest but illegal trade has to be eradicated to allow sustainable management of this and other wildlife species. Tortoises and freshwater turtles including the Southeast Asian Box Turtle may only be exported live from Indonesia. The export of dead animals, parts (carapace or plastron) or derivatives is illegal under the Indonesian quota system. Some members of the CITES MA, especially at the provincial level are not aware of this. Export of dead specimens, parts and derivatives of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle from Indonesia has increased since the species became listed in Appendix II. This trend seems to apply also to other freshwater turtle species that recently became CITES-listed. Furthermore, increased control of live shipments has led to an increased volume of illegally traded shells. Many of the illegal shipments have forged CITES export permits. Enforcement officers are insufficiently trained and/or do not check CITES permits thoroughly. Illegal export of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle and other freshwater turtles from Indonesia is possible because many shipments are not inspected, many law enforcement officers do not know the conservation status of the different freshwater turtle species, and still cannot distinguish between the different species. Indonesia has a substantive enough legislative framework in place to govern the management of wildlife harvest and trade, and it is comparatively stronger than that of many neighbouring countries. Unfortunately, the enforcement of these laws is very weak. None of the establishments that sold the Southeast Asian Box Turtle for local utilization obtained the specimens from licensed collectors nor were these outlets licensed to sell. The Indonesian CITES MA has a very detailed, complex and difficult licensing and permit system. The quota setting in Indonesia is not science-based but driven by the demand from traders to supply importing countries especially those in East Asia where large volumes are consumed for food and traditional medicines. The distribution of the national quota among provinces is not related to local abundance nor to sustainability of trade but to the presence of a trader. Locations for harvest or capture are not carefully selected based on biological and ecological assessments, but rather in accordance with the preferred collection sites of the trader. The fact that some freshwater turtle species fall under the jurisdiction of the PHKA (Directorate General of Forest Protection and Nature Conservation under the Ministry of Forestry of the Republic of Indonesia) while others are under the management of the DKP (Indonesian Department of Marine Affairs and Fisheries), has led to considerable confusion and weakness in law enforcement. Results of this study have shown that the exploitation of the Southeast Asian Box Turtle in Indonesia has reached a level that requires immediate action. Harvest needs to be regulated and illegal trade to be eradicated. Details: Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia: TRAFFIC Southeast Asia, 2009. 105p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 20, 2013 at: http://www.trafficj.org/publication/09_Status_Trade_SE_Asian_Box_Turtle.pdf Year: 2009 Country: Asia Keywords: Asian Box Turtle Shelf Number: 128051 |
Author: Global Tiger Workshop Title: Saving Wild Tigers: Kathmandu Summary Document A Report from the Global Tiger Workshop October 27-30, 2009 Kathmandu, Nepal Summary: Tigers are symbols of all that is powerful, mystical, and beautiful in nature. But wild tigers are in crisis, having fallen in numbers from about 100,000 in 1900 to just 3,200 today as a result of adverse human activities, including habitat destruction and a huge illegal trade in tiger parts. The decline continues to this day. This decade is the last opportunity to save wild tigers and the ecological riches they and the landscapes they inhabit represent. The good news is that despite serious loss, enough habitat remains in Asia that can be restored to support as many as 20,000 wild tigers. To develop recommendations to reverse the wild tiger’s decline, more than 250 participants from 13 of the 14 tiger range countries (TRCs) and the international community met in Kathmandu from October 27-30, 2009, as part of a process designed to lead to the Vladivostok Tiger Summit in September 2010. The workshop resulted in the unanimous adoption of the Kathmandu Recommendations—actions that will help achieve the goal of doubling the population of wild tigers within the next ten years. These recommendations emerged from the national priority actions that each TRC identified in individual country sessions, after thematic sessions that offered ideas and approaches for their consideration. Each TRC’s priority transformational actions are a unique set and many of these are already under implementation. They can be summarized under the following broad themes: Make core tiger breeding areas inviolate with commitments from TRCs and financing institutions to not build infrastructure in these areas. Engage in cross-sector dialogue to integrate tiger conservation into land-use and infrastructure plans. Ensure local support in favor of tiger conservation based on participatory, community-based programs that provide social and economic incentives for conservation and pro-actively manage human-wildlife conflict through mitigation and compensation. Relocate villages from core tiger breeding area using best practices. Develop innovative sustainable financing mechanisms for tiger conservation. Determine full costs of tiger conservation activities. Pilot mechanisms to transfer resources from infrastructure activities to conservation programs. Assess carbon stocks in TCLs to make the case for funding from REDD Build institutional capacity to train the next generation of leaders in protected-area and landscape management, networked in a regional community of excellence, and develop science-based management plans for protected areas and tiger landscapes. Dramatically reduce poaching and illegal trade by enhancing national law-enforcement capacity and strengthening coordinated support from international wildlife law enforcement bodies. Implement the Pattaya Manifesto and CITES resolution Conf.12.5. Garner political will for improved law enforcement. Reduce demand for tiger parts through large-scale, targeted campaigns to change behaviors and perceptions of consumers of tiger parts and socialize opposition to tiger consumption. To guide the international community and the Global Tiger Initiative, each TCR also identified specific areas for which it requires international support. Country requirements naturally vary but converge on capacity building, knowledge sharing, financing to fill critical gaps, cross-border law enforcement and protected-area management, global campaign to change consumer attitudes, and creating and sustaining political will. Generating political will to conserve tigers—to take full advantage of the expertise that exists and transformational ideas that are emerging—is the most important step toward saving the world’s most iconic species. This effort will intensify at the Asian Ministerial Conference on Tiger Conservation in January 2010, in Thailand, which will aim to define the support needed to accelerate the implementation of national programs. At the Vladivostok Tiger Summit in September 2010, the global goals, programs, funding, and implementation and monitoring mechanisms will be launched. Details: Kathmandu, Nepal: Global Tiger Workshop, 2009. 17p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 23, 2013 at: http://www.globaltigerinitiative.org/download/GTI-Kathmandu-Outcomes.pdf Year: 2009 Country: Asia Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 128096 |
Author: Tsioumanni, Elsa Title: Wildlife Legislation and the Empowerment of the Poor in Asia and Oceania Summary: This paper ia a comparative analysis of national wildlife legislation in Asia and Oceania, with the aim of identifying strengths and weaknesses of legal frameworks in the promotion of sustainable wildlife management and in allowing disadvantaged people, particularly indigenous and local communities, to directly benefit from it. Authored by Elsa Tsioumani and Elisa Morgera, this study formulates recommendations and proposes specific legal options to improve legal frameworks in the region, with a view to supporting environmental sustainability, socioeconomic development and the empowerment of the poor. Part II presents country studies on national legislation from twelve countries in Asia and Oceania, highlighting the main legal provisions affecting wildlife management and use by local communities and aiming at highlighting specific legal tools for pro-poor sustainable wildlife management Details: Rome: United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, 2010. 124p. Source: Internet Resource: FAO Legal Papers Online No. 83:: Accessed March 23, 2013 at: http://biodiversity-l.iisd.org/news/fao-legal-paper-wildlife-legislation-and-the-empowerment-of-the-poor-in-asia-and-oceania/ Year: 2010 Country: Asia Keywords: Wildlife Conservation Shelf Number: 128103 |
Author: Horne, Brian D. Title: Conservation of Asian Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles: Setting Priorities for the Next Ten Years Summary: The workshop entitled "Conservation of Asian Tortoises and Freshwater Turtles: Setting Priorities for the Next Ten Years ” hosted by Wildlife Reserves Singapore (WRS), 21-24 February 2011. Nearly 70 delegates from 17 countries –including 14 Asian nations – attended. A primary directive and the basis of the workshop, participants were tasked with looking back at the last decade of turtle conservation since the pivotal meeting in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, in 1999 that first brought together the region’s turtle experts. By assessing the past eleven years, participants were able to identify what actions worked well, which ones did not work as well as hoped, and which recommendations/priorities had not been adequately addressed. Next, the participants were asked to look forward to determine emerging trends and new developments and dilemmas/challenges in the continuously changing habitat impacts and market trade in turtles and turtle products. This report presents a set of recommendations and conclusions arising from presentations, discussions, and break-out sessions at the workshop. The first set of overall recommendations represent the immediate steps necessary for staving off extinction of Asia’s most endangered turtles. These recommendations are of the highest priority. Key policy recommendations are then made, arising from an International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN) Red-Listing process that was incorporated as part of the Singapore workshop. In addition, a specific session on the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) was held. These recommendations dovetail into recommendations for proposed changes to the CITES listing of Asian turtles and how specific species need to be more strictly regulated and supervised in their international trade to protect wild populations. The key policy recommendations should be pivotal in encouraging participating countries to enforce existing laws and regulations and in some cases create new laws or regulations. Two genera have been identified as priority groups as they make up a large percentage of the most critically endangered turtles in Asia. This is followed by a section on emerging threats and includes recommendations for dealing with these new issues. After which a number of emerging opportunities are detailed for turtle conservation in Asia. The report then features two potential species for pilot reintroduction programs. Before the report concludes, it details species-specific recommendations for the 36 confirmed and proposed Critically Endangered Turtles and Tortoises in South and Southeast Asia, and lastly, there is a short section on the need to gather information on species’ ranked as Data Deficient in order to determine such species population status. Details: Singapore: Wildlife Conservation Society, 2012. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 23, 2013 at: http://www.turtlesurvival.org/storage/documents/Singapore_Report_complete.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Asia Keywords: Illegal Wildlife Trade Shelf Number: 128107 |
Author: TRAFFIC-India Title: The Roar of the Tiger: A compilation of the in-session documents, information documents and interventions at the CITES CoP14 on Agenda Document CoP14 Doc 52 ‘Asian Big Cats’ Summary: Tigers and Asian big cats were at the centre stage of an important debate at the 14th meeting of the Conference of Parties of the CITES at the Hague, The Netherlands. Led by India and other range states like Nepal, China, Bhutan and Russia, the 14th CoP was able to garner strong support for conservation of tigers in the wild. After the 14th CITES CoP in The Hague, there was naturally a lot of interest in India on the tiger issue, and consequently several versions of the entire debate, unfortunately some of them inaccurate, being discussed. Given the significance of the debate and its long-term implications for tiger conservation, this compilation attempts to put together the in-session documents, information documents, interventions and other relevant documents of the debate around the Agenda Document CoP14 Doc 52 ‘Asian Big Cats’. As such, the statements made by various countries such as India, Nepal, Bhutan and China on the floor gather significance. One of the key messages to emerge on this important international forum was that “Tigers should not be bred for their parts or derivatives.” Given the significance of the debate and its long term implications for tiger conservation, this compilation attempts to put together the decisions and other relevant documents of this debate. While the summary records and the resolutions are excerpted from the official record of CITES, the interventions of various countries have been compiled from various sources including unofficial transcripts. Details: New Delhi: TRAFFIC-India, 2007. 52p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 25, 2013 at: http://www.indiaenvironmentportal.org.in/files/traffic_pub_cop14_19.pdf Year: 2007 Country: Asia Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 128110 |
Author: Yasmi, Yurdi Title: Forestry Policies, Legislation and Institutions in Asia and the Pacific: Trends and Emerging Needs for 2020 Summary: Continuing high rates of deforestation and forest degradation and the poor contribution of forests and forestry to poverty reduction are undermining efforts to promote sustainable forest management (SFM) in many countries in the Asia-Pacific region. It is often argued that by implementing appropriate policies, legislation and institutional arrangements SFM can be attained and that widespread economic, social and environmental benefits will result. Almost all countries in the region have moved towards SFM at the policy level and in many countries institutional structures are also gradually changing. This report reviews the status and trends in forestry policy and institutions and outlines the extent to which changes in policies, legislation and institutional arrangements aimed at supporting transitions towards SFM have been effective. Trends in governance and the extent to which efforts to tackle illegal logging have been effective are also assessed. Details: Bangkok, Thailand: FAO Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific, 2010. 52p. Source: Internet Resource: Asia-Pacific Forestry Sector Outlook Study II, Working Paper Series, Working Paper No. APFSOS II/WP/2010/34: Accessed March 25, 2013 at: http://www.forestrynepal.org/publications/book/4953 Year: 2010 Country: Asia Keywords: Deforestation Shelf Number: 128120 |
Author: International Crisis Group Title: Dangerous Waters: China-Japan Relations on the Rocks Summary: The world’s second and third largest economies are engaged in a standoff over the sovereignty of five islets and three rocks in the East China Sea, known as the Diaoyu in Chinese and the Senkaku in Japanese. Tensions erupted in September 2012 when Japan purchased three disputed islands from their private owner to keep them from the nationalist governor of Tokyo. In response, Beijing implemented a series of measures including the establishment of overlapping administration in the disputed waters. Both sides’ law enforcement agencies and militaries currently operate in close proximity in disputed naval and aerial space. Unlike foreign ministries, these actors have less institutional interest in containing crises and enjoy an information monopoly allowing them to shape domestic perceptions. The two countries lack the mutual trust and communication mechanisms to manage incidents, let alone to discuss intentions or operating protocols. In the event of a skirmish, heightened nationalism, especially in China, could constrict the room for diplomatic manoeuvres to de-escalate the situation. China’s actions reflect a “reactive assertive” tactic used previously in the South China Sea, whereby it exploits perceived provocations in disputed areas by other countries to take strong countermeasures to change the status quo in its favour. Interpreting the Japanese government’s decision to purchase the islands as a unilateral change to the status quo, China implemented a series of pre-planned actions with the goal of changing the facts on the ground. The most important was when Beijing declared territorial baselines around the islands in September, thus increasing the number and length of its law enforcement patrols to directly challenge Japan’s de facto control of the area. Many Chinese strategists perceive Japan to be a former empire continuing on a downward slide while China’s star is rising. For them, the time is right to respond resolutely and stake its ground with its eastern neighbour. Nationalism makes the sovereignty dispute in the East China Sea a highly explosive issue for China, more so than the South China Sea. Due to the brutal Japanese occupation of China in the 1930s, sentiments over the status of the Diaoyu/Senkaku Islands run deeper in the Chinese psyche than any other territorial dispute in modern Chinese history, with the exception of Taiwan. Beijing has for years exploited anti-Japan sentiment through patriotic education campaigns and has used nationalism to justify assertive actions. But while in the past it could more easily dial up or down nationalism through control of state-run media, the rapid rise of Internet use has eroded that control and begun to shape the context of policymaking. The government must now satisfy increasingly outspoken and critical citizens. Complementary economic ties – essential to both given China’s prioritised commitment to strong economic growth and Japan’s desire to rebuild its stagnated economy – have provided strong incentives to keep this dispute from escalating into armed conflict, a scenario neither side wants. But despite expressions by both governments that they wish to avoid a war, potential for escalation has increased and there is deepening pessimism on both sides over the prospects of a peaceful settlement. The strategic mistrust that characterises relations has been aggravated by their respective domestic situations. Without top leaders setting the tone for crisis mitigation, a tradition of back-channel diplomacy has disappeared. The relative weakness of China’s foreign ministry complicates bilateral relations and prevents effective crisis management, as it is the official – and often the only – channel open to Tokyo. Meanwhile, the “China hands” in Japan who traditionally helped manage the relationship have been sidelined. While there is little hope of a resolution of the sovereignty dispute in the near future, Tokyo and Beijing urgently need to work toward establishing communication mechanisms and strengthening crisis mitigation in order to avoid a larger conflict. Details: Brussels, Belgium: International Crisis Group, 2013. 63p. Source: Internet Resource: Asia Report No. 245: Accessed April 9, 2013 at: http://www.crisisgroup.org/~/media/Files/asia/north-east-asia/245-dangerous-waters-china-japan-relations-on-the-rocks Year: 2013 Country: Asia Keywords: Maritime Crime (China, Japan) Shelf Number: 128319 |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Title: Transnational Organized Crime in East Asia and the Pacific A Threat Assessment Summary: East Asia and the Pacific have experienced rapid economic and social changes during the past few decades and faced the considerable regulation challenges these changes create for public authorities. This report takes a look at the manner in which criminal enterprises have developed alongside legitimate commerce in recent years. Drawing on official statistics, academic studies, and interviews with law enforcement officials, it attempts to outline something about the mechanics of illicit trade: the how, where, when, who, and why of selected contraband markets affecting the region. It also endeavours to give the best reading of the available data on the size of these markets. Though the list of contraband markets discussed is not comprehensive and it is impossible to quantify the value of these markets with any precision, these estimates are offered to prompt public debate on areas of great public policy significance. The mechanics of trafficking are discussed for a nonexhaustive list of 12 illicit flows, which themselves are organized under four headings: 1. Human trafficking and smuggling of migrants 2. Illicit drugs (heroin and methamphetamine) 3. Resources (wildlife, wood products) and pollution crime (e-waste, ozone-depleting substances) 4. Products (counterfeit goods, fraudulent medicines). Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2013. 192p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 1, 2013 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/data-and-analysis/Studies/TOCTA_EAP_web.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Asia Keywords: Counterfeit Goods Shelf Number: 128580 |
Author: Horne, Dylan Title: Policy Responses to Transnational Wildlife Crime in the Asia-Pacific. Part 2: Policy Responses at the National Level and Preliminary Gap Analysis Summary: Transnational Wildlife Crime (wildlife crime) involves the trading and smuggling across borders of species in violation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Globally, governments and international organisations have responded to the challenges of transnational environmental crime (TEC) in both operational and policy contexts. The policy context is defined as the suite of documents, plans, programs, regulatory schemes, and strategies that provide for a coordinated, coherent response to, and support for, the fight against wildlife crime. Current knowledge of this policy context, and particularly of policy responses at the national and agency levels, is poor. This paper is the first of two research papers intended to provide a preliminary analysis of the current wildlife crime policy context and its effectiveness in dealing with wildlife crime. This paper contains an overview of the high level (global and regional) policy context for the Asia-Pacific region as it applies to six Asia-Pacific countries: Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Thailand and Vietnam. The high-level policy context was summarised through desktop investigation of freely-available online material. The paper goes on to determine a potential set of ‘optimal’ requirements for wildlife crime policy at the national level based on existing literature. These requirements fell into four broad categories: the optimal wildlife crime policy response at the national level must be (1) proactive and intelligence based, (2) multifaceted, addressing many aspects of the problem, (3) multilateral, involving cooperation between several actors, and (4) monitored, evaluated, and adapted as necessary. Details: Canberra: Transnational Environmental Crime Project, Department of International Relations, School of International, Political & Strategic Studies, ANU College of Asia and the Pacific Australian National University, 2013. 21p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper 2/2013: Accessed June 1, 2013 at: http://ips.cap.anu.edu.au/ir/tec/publications/TEC_Working_Paper_Part%201_2013_PolicyResponses_to_Transnational_Wildlife_Crime_in_the_Asia-Pacific.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Asia Keywords: Wildlife Conservation Shelf Number: 128886 |
Author: Brands, Hal Title: Criminal Fiefdoms in Latin America: Understanding the Problem of Alternatively Governed Spaces Summary: The problems of criminal fiefdoms—alternatively governed spaces (AGSs) in which criminal organizations, rather than formal authorities, effectively control the population and act as the arbiter of internal order—have become a serious security issue in Latin America. In several countries, criminal fiefdoms have taken shape against the backdrop of rampant criminality that has afflicted much of the region over the past two decades, with this phenomenon intensified by competition between rival transnational drug trafficking organizations (DTOs). In nations as varied as Guatemala, El Salvador, Honduras, and Brazil, criminal organizations ranging from youth gangs to sophisticated DTOs control large portions of the national territory. They serve as de facto governments as they collect “taxes” through dues and extortion, demand the loyalty, or at least the acquiescence, of the people under their control, and punish those who interfere with their illicit activities. Such groups wage irregular warfare—defined as “a violent struggle among state and non-state actors for legitimacy and influence over the relevant populations”—against their competitors and governments.1 While criminal organizations like MS-13 and the First Capital Command (PCC) of São Paulo sometimes provide order and limited social services, they also exploit and terrorize the populace. Criminal fiefdoms have thus exposed the weakness of governance, showing that states cannot control their territory or protect their citizens. This is having a corrosive impact on the public psyche, material conditions and is undermining democracy. Addressing this problem will be a difficult and complex task. The issue of criminal fiefdoms is rooted in structural problems—inequality, lack of opportunity, corruption, and above all, weak state capacity. Efforts must concentrate on building broad political compacts in support of holistic anti-crime programs and efforts to strengthening the state. • Within this context, there are several initiatives to consider, including: Smarter targeting and efforts to develop tools necessary to sustain long-term investigations and successful prosecutions; Creative policing strategies that focus on policecivilian interaction and protection of the population; Short and long-term efforts to strengthen honest law enforcement and judicial officials to reduce corruption; Building the institutional capacity of the agencies and offices charged with combating and prosecuting organized crime; Macro and micro-economic initiatives to broaden opportunity and stem the stream of recruits for organized crime; Intensified U.S. efforts to deal with the demand side of the DTO problem and a capacity and willingness for innovation and experimentation. During the Cold War, Latin America was roiled by Marxist insurgencies that, in the process of seeking to overthrow governments, carved out “liberated zones” in which insurgents could operate freely and extract resources from the population. Today, ideological violence has faded, but the problem of alternatively governed spaces (AGSs)—areas in which some groups other than the government are the de facto arbiter of internal order—continues to plague the region. A variety of criminal organizations, ranging from youth gangs to transnational drug-trafficking organizations (DTOs), have established “criminal fiefdoms” in which they operate with little or no interference from the authorities and have established a form of dominance—complete with “taxation,” limited social services, and often-brutal punishment—over the population. This phenomenon is most pronounced in Central American countries like Guatemala, Honduras, and El Salvador, but it is also evident in Brazil. Where fiefdoms exist, states are essentially experiencing irregular warfare, as criminal groups compete with established governments for control and influence over the civilian population. This phenomenon has highlighted the weakness of many states, and is having a severely corrosive impact on democratic governance and the rule of law. This paper thus analyzes the origins, manifestations, and ramifications of the problem of criminal fiefdoms. The first section offers an analytical framework for understanding the issue. The second and third sections present case studies, focusing on the current situation in Guatemala and São Paulo, Brazil. The fourth section discusses policy implications. Details: Miami: Florida International University, Western Hemisphere Security Analysis Center, 2010. 49p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 25, 2013 at: http://digitalcommons.fiu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1016&context=whemsac Year: 2010 Country: Asia Keywords: Drug Trafficking Shelf Number: 129154 |
Author: Lundin, Lars-Erie Title: Perils of the Drug Trade: Implications and Challenges of Central Asia's "Northern Route" Summary: The international trade in Afghan drugs is one of the most significant transnational threats emanating from Central Asia. Exacerbated by weak border management, corruption, and lack of income-generating alternatives, the “Northern Route” is a scourge not only for the Central Asian states but also Russia and Europe, undermining a vision of a Eurasian community based on democracy, human rights, and the rule of law, as well as posing attendant health risks. International efforts have so far failed to adequately come to grips with the problem. It is clear that there is no quick fix and that hope rests in a mixture of instruments, not least promoting long-term socio-economic development in the region, stemming pervasive corruption, engaging in human rights dialogues, as well as promoting more effective international cooperation—in particular involving Russia. Details: Stockholm, Sweden: The Institute for Security and Development Policy , 2013. 3p. Source: Internet Resource: Policy Review No. 125: Accessed July 8, 2013 at: http://www.isdp.eu/images/stories/isdp-main-pdf/2013-lundin-vankaathoven-central-asia-northern-route.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Asia Keywords: Border Security Shelf Number: 129275 |
Author: Chau, Foo-cheong, Sidney Title: Application of the Principles of Corporate Governance to Enhance Efficiency of Airport Security Services Summary: Today, aviation security is at the forefront of public consciousness particularly when they think of their own personal safety. The dramatic and catastrophic attacks of 911, utilizing civil aviation resources has made the world view aviation security with a critical eye. It could be argued that the response by States and individual airports and airlines has been positive and rapid, however the effectiveness has been marginal. Many factors have been proffered as the reason, from ineffective conservative governments, out-dated equipment, old infrastructure to a traditional mind-set that does not always accept change. Due to the limited scope of this research paper, the author has chosen to concentrate on Corporate Governance and three associated principles, “ethics”, “accountability” and “oversight” to assess the effectiveness of aviation security. This theme was chosen because, in the 1990s the Hong Kong Government considered Corporate Governance was a key ingredients needed for a positive paradigm shift in the way aviation security was implemented at the Hong Kong International Airport (HKIA). Government and the public felt, that the management of the old “Kai Tak” airport in Kowloon prior to 1998 did not adequately consider Corporate Governance as a key ingredient to successful security resulting in long-standing misgivings about the airport’s ability to meet security requirements. Fortuitously for this research paper, HKIA was relocated from Kowloon to Lantau Island in 1998 and a new Government owned company Aviation Security Company Limited (AVSECO) was set up at that time to provide the security. The Government and the Board of Directors of AVSECO were able to learn from the weaknesses of the old airport and from the outset understood the need for a change in the way the security was provided at the airport. So spurred on by the imminent airport relocation and the establishment of a AVSECO at the new airport, the Government considered it was an ideal time to change the security philosophy and make the new company accountable through good corporate governance. With this background, the aim of this research paper is to review the standards and recommended practices set by the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), which is a Specialized agency of the UN having the aim of safeguarding civil aviation against actual and threats of ‘unlawful interference to civil aviation’. To do this, there is a literature review and observations from within the aviation industry. This review found that the security measures implemented to enforce the standards and therefore counter the real and emerging threats has been poor throughout the world. The question the industry therefore needs to ask is “If all the experts of the world have joined together (through ICAO) to set the standards to mitigate the risk, why does the public still feel the measures are unrealistic or ineffective in most airports?” Also, “Why, when we know in theory what to do, is it that many airports still fail to stop the threats? “In order to solve this puzzle, the paper critically looks at the international standards and their global implementation. Then, utilizing HKIA as a case study, the paper discusses if good corporate governance is a key to the successful implementation of effective aviation security. The literature review and analysis of security data collected over the past 6 years at HKIA suggests that good Corporate Governance is in fact a key ingredient for effective security at airports. The limitations of this paper, only allows for the study of three principles of good corporate governance, namely ‘Oversight’, ‘Ethics’ and ‘Accountability’. It goes without saying that there are many other factors that can influence the success or otherwise of the implementation of effective aviation security – for example organizational culture, equipment employed, staff training, quality control, policies and procedures, to name just a few. The paper only discusses these other variables when they directly relate to the three chosen corporate governance principles at HKIA. To sum up, despite the effective promulgation of international standards, the related effectiveness of the implementation has varied greatly from airport to airport. Many variables, either independently or collectively can be the cause of failure. This paper concentrated only on how the introduction of corporate governance (particularly the three key principles) improved the way HKIA conducted business in relation to Aviation Security forever. The change to good corporate governance did not occur over night and has taken almost 15 years for effective management oversight, company ethics and accountability to become enshrined into the company philosophy. The data reviewed from HKIA, however, does suggest that the transformation has been dramatic and effective, showing that, when emphasized and enshrined into corporate culture, good Corporate Governance will increase the likelihood of success in the on-going fight against unlawful interference against civil aviation. Details: Hong Kong: University of Hong Kong Department of Politics and Public Administration, 2012. 55p. Source: Internet Resource: Master's Essay; Accessed July 22, 2013 at: http://hub.hku.hk/bitstream/10722/184356/1/FullText.pdf?accept=1 Year: 2012 Country: Asia Keywords: Airport Security Shelf Number: 129479 |
Author: Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance Title: Child Labour in Tobacco Cultivation in the ASEAN Region Summary: Child labour is prevalent in tobacco cultivation in Southeast Asia. All ASEAN countries are Parties to the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) and, hence, are obligated to enforce the Convention and ensure their rights are protected (Table 1). Most ASEAN countries grow tobacco with the exception of Brunei Darussalam and Singapore. Child labour has been used in tobacco cultivation in all the tobacco growing countries. This report will provide an overview of the problem in the ASEAN region. It will address how different industries have dealt with child labour issues, laws on importation of goods using child labour, and how the tobacco industry have shielded themselves through their corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities, which have not eradicated the problem. A case study on child labour in tobacco growing from East Java in Indonesia is presented. Indonesia is the largest tobacco producer in the region and its leaf exports to international markets makes it important to address the problem. The report will also provide recommendations on what needs to be done to eradicate child labour in leaf production. Details: Bangkok, Thailand: Southeast Asia Tobacco Control Alliance, 2013. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 5, 2013 at: http://seatca.org/dmdocuments/ChildLabor%20Final%202013.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Labor (Asia) Shelf Number: 129511 |
Author: Gerome, Rebecca Title: Women, Gender and Gun Violence in the Middle East Summary: This report presents the main findings of an assessment conducted in Lebanon, Jordan and Occupied Palestinian Territory from January to May 2011 by providing a situation overview, challenges and entry points for action in each country and presenting recommendations for future interventions. Although the impact of gun violence on women in the region has remained largely invisible, the proliferation of small arms has prevented women from exercising some of their most basic rights. Direct and indirect impacts of small arms on women in the Middle East include armed domestic violence and “crimes committed in the name of honour”, as well as long term social, economic and psychological effects of revenge killings between male family members, tribal vendettas and celebratory shootings resulting in death and serious injury. Women who have been injured are considered an added burden on the family, and in some cases they are marginalised and rejected by their family. When a woman loses her husband to gun violence, she must struggle to provide for family members. Women’s groups have already been working hard on violence against women, but what challenges have prevented women’s groups from engaging with the issue of small arms? Small arms control and disarmament is a sensitive, sometimes taboo, issue that is difficult to address without seeming to take sides politically. Currently there is no consolidated data on either firearm use or violence against women, making the problem hard to assess. Varying notions of crime and punishment throughout the region complicate the issue. Private justice is often considered legitimate, especially where institutions are weak, and such incidents are not always officially reported. Laws to protect women’s rights are either not sufficiently developed or not sufficiently implemented. Laws still exist to pardon and give reduced penalties for “crimes committed in the name of honour”. Women’s groups have expressed readiness to work on small arms control and disarmament, and have identified opportunities for action. These differ in each the three countries examined. For women’s rights and civil society organisations in Lebanon, the best way to tackle the problem is to present small arms control as a protection issue rather than a political one. This means looking at it from the angle of protecting women rather than disarming one group over another. In Jordan, where authorities are desperate to control civilian gun possession, women identified UN Security Council Resolution 1325 (2000) as a starting point for action. In Occupied Palestinian Territory, women can work with the Palestinian Authority to improve law enforcement in the West Bank and raise awareness among youth to break the links between masculinity, guns and violence. Details: London: International Action Network on Small Arms (IANSA), Women's Network, 2011. 43p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 5, 2013 at: http://www.iansa-women.org/sites/default/files/newsviews/iansa_wn_mena_paper_2011.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Asia Keywords: Domestic Violence Shelf Number: 129515 |
Author: Mcgrath, Alice Title: A Voice for the Future of Juvenile Justice in Asia-Pacific: Introduction to the Asia Pacific Council for Juvenile Justice and Leading Juvenile Justice Reforms in the Region Summary: The situation of children in conflict with the law, child victims and witnesses of crime has become an increasing concern for most of the countries of the Asia-Pacific region. Even if significant reform initiatives are currently underway in response to issues of violence against children, child trafficking and children rights, a lack of specific guarantee of protection of the rights of children in conflict with the law and juvenile justice systems still persists in some countries. In order to assist countries in the region in the implementation of international standards and the development of reforms, the International Juvenile Justice Observatory - (IJJO) has established the Asia-Pacific Council for Juvenile Justice - APCJJ to formulate recommendations on juvenile justice in Asia-Pacific, as well as to gather quantitative and qualitative information on the situation of children, adolescents and young people in conflict with the law. In 2012, the International Juvenile Justice Observatory together with the Department of Juvenile Observation and Protection of the Ministry of Justice of Thailand organised the first meeting of the Asia Pacific Council of Juvenile Justice - APCJJ. The objective of the APCJJ meeting was to develop solid strategies to ensure the respect for the rights of children and adolescents in conflict with the law and to promote crime prevention policies toward Asia-Pacific institutions, such as the ASEAN, based on existing initiatives and programmes. The report sheds light on crucial areas of juvenile justice and leading practices in this regard, including prevention, diversion, restorative justice, improving conditions of detention and promoting social reintegration. Details: Brussels: International Juvenile Justice Observatory (IJJO), 2013. 72p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 13, 2013 at: http://www.ipjj.org/fileadmin/data/documents/reports_monitoring_evaluation/IJJO_AVoiceForTheFutureOfJuvenileJusticeAsiaPacific_2013_EN.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Asia Keywords: Delinquency Prevention Shelf Number: 131648 |
Author: Chappell, Duncan Title: Quantifying and Describing the South and South East Asian Illicit Antiquities Trade: Australia as an Overlooked Destination? Summary: The illicit antiquities trade, especially concerning smaller, portable artefacts deliberately stolen from archaeological sites, temples and museums, remains the greatest threat to the global archaeological record. To date, documenting and interdicting this trade has been severely restricted, primarily due to lax or conflicting enforcement practices, national and international laws, and an incomplete understanding of the size and scope of the market in both 'supply' and 'demand' countries. Asia, and especially South East Asia, is "on Australia's doorstep." Recent events (discussed below) suggest that Australia is an overlooked destination for illicitly obtained Asian-region antiquities. The overarching and immediate goals of this project, therefore, are to begin quantifying and describing the licit and illicit Australian antiquities market associated with the South East Asian region, as well as to collect preliminary data on the trade from one specific country - Vietnam. In this Briefing Paper, the reasons for selecting Vietnam as a detailed study are noted, together with proposed plans for 'in country' field research. Following this, a preliminary analysis of the nature and scope of the Australian antiquities market is undertaken, including an examination of a recent case, that of BC Galleries (Vic) Pty Ltd v Commonwealth of Australia (BCG 2012), to illustrate deficiencies in the existing cultural heritage protection laws in Australia, and especially the current limited capacity to repatriate looted objects to their country of origin. The paper concludes with observations on the need for reform in both the area of legislation and enforcement policy to ensure Australia fulfills its national and international cultural heritage protection obligations. Details: Nathan, Queensland: The Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security (CEPS), 2013. 8p. Source: The Australian Research Council (ARC) Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security (CEPS) Briefing Issue 24: Internet Resource: Accessed January 16, 2014 at Year: 2013 Country: Asia Keywords: Antiquities Shelf Number: 131779 |
Author: Fink, Naureen Chowdhury Title: Mightier than the Sword? The Role of the Media in Addressing Violence and Terrorism in South Asia Summary: The media plays an important role in terrorism and counterterrorism. Because of its capacity to relay information, frame narratives, shape public opinion, and inform both politics and policymaking, the media is a critical vehicle to convey ideas that legitimize or delegitimize terrorists and violent extremist groups and narratives. Violent extremist groups have used the media, particularly the Internet, to link local grievances to global narratives, and to radicalize and mobilize supporters. South Asia has a long history of confronting violence and extremism, particularly from groups espousing a wide variety of ideologies, including ethno-national, separatist, right and left wing, and religious (or sectarian) causes. Within this environment, South Asia's vibrant and diverse media has often been at the forefront of a rich cultural and political discourse and plays an important role in framing and informing public opinion, and in challenging extremist ideas and acts. However, there have also been concerns about the use of the media to incite violence and perpetuate tensions between different communities. This report analyzes the media's important role in contemporary terrorism and argues for greater focus on the role of the media in countering violent extremism (CVE), both as a platform for communication and as a professional body that can shape perceptions, offer balanced information, and create protected spaces for critical debate and dialogue. The publication draws on a desktop literature review, discussions held during a workshop on "The Role of the Media in Addressing Terrorism and Violent Extremism in South Asia" at the Institute of South Asian Studies in Singapore, and extensive dialogue with practitioners, experts, and government officials. This report offers a set of recommendations for actors at the national, regional, and international levels to consider when engaging with the media for CVE purposes in South Asia. Details: Goshen, IN: Center on Global Counterterrorism Cooperation, 2013. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 31, 2014 at: http://www.globalct.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/11/2013Oct_CGCC_MightierThanTheSword_Report.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Asia Keywords: Journalists Shelf Number: 131832 |
Author: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Title: School-Related Gender-Based Violence in the Asia-Pacific Region Summary: Gender-based violence (GBV) is a fundamental violation of human rights. It is one of the worst manifestations of gender-based discrimination, disproportionately affecting girls and women. GBV is a global phenomenon that knows no geographical, cultural, social, economic, ethnic, or other boundaries. It occurs across all societies, and is a major obstacle to the achievement of gender equality. Governments have signed onto international frameworks1 to protect children from all forms of violence. Despite these frameworks, recent reviews and initiatives have highlighted the extent to which children are exposed to school-related gender-based violence (SRGBV) and the significance of education to prevent and eliminate this form of violence. In the region, GBV is often tolerated and sustained by social institutions, including the school - the very place where children are expected to be safe, protected and empowered. SRGBV remains not fully examined in the region, and is perhaps even overlooked in many educational environments. SRGBV continues to affect children in the Asia-Pacific region each year, and boys, girls, transgender and intersex children can be targets. In Asia and the Pacific - as elsewhere - SRGBV is a critical barrier to the right to education, not only because of its serious physical and psychological health implications, but also because it may lead to the deterioration of the learning environment as a whole. The experience or even the threat of SRGBV often results in irregular attendance, dropout, truancy, poor school performance, and low self-esteem, which may follow into their adult lives. Importantly, SRGBV is often aggravated in conflict-affected countries and during emergencies. Witnessing or experiencing violence in schools may have irreversible consequences for students in perpetrating or further experiencing violence in adult lives. Teachers, schools and education systems are fundamental in transforming practices, attitudes and values, including instilling in learners the understanding and practice of gender equality, non-violent behaviour and acceptance of difference. To do so, though, and to fulfil children's right to education, learners need safe and supportive environments. SRGBV is a serious obstacle to reaching the Education for All (EFA) and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to achieving gender equality. As we accelerate our efforts towards meeting the EFA goals and elevating our educational ambitions for girls and boys in the post-2015 development agenda, it is critical that we maintain our commitment to gender equality in and through quality education. Details: Bangkok: UNESCO, 2014. 71p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 18, 2014 at: http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0022/002267/226754E.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Asia Keywords: Gender-Based Violence Shelf Number: 131960 |
Author: Baldwin, Simon Title: Drug Policy Advocacy in Asia: Challenges, Opportunities and Prospects Summary: This report was commissioned by the International Drug Policy Consortium (IDPC), with the support of Australian Aid, for the purpose of developing a better understanding of drug policy advocacy activity in 10 Asian countries: Cambodia, China, India, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Thailand, and Vietnam. It aims to achieve three goals: - Identify organisations engaged in harm reduction and drug policy advocacy - Identify gaps and challenges in harm reduction and drug policy advocacy that remain to be addressed - Develop recommendations for prioritising new activities in harm reduction and drug policy advocacy. The report does not provide an exhaustive review of drug policy content, rather it focuses on the process of drug policy making and attempts to understand the relationships between key stakeholders, including both policy makers and policy advocates, engaged in policy processes at local and regional level. The report combines data collected from published reports with key informant interviews to draw its conclusions. Details: London: International Drug Policy Consortium, 2013. 66p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 20, 2014 at: http://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/64663568/library/IDPC-report-drug-policy-in-South-East-Asia.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Asia Keywords: Drug Abuse and Addiction Shelf Number: 131995 |
Author: Surtees, Rebecca Title: After Trafficking: Experiences and Challenges in the (Re)integration of Trafficked Persons in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region Summary: (Re)integration is a process that involves many steps after the individual's exit from trafficking. Ideally trafficked persons are identified and provided with a range of services to support their social and economic (re)integration. Many trafficked persons interviewed for this study were assisted and supported in these ways. Others were not fully supported through these stages but nonetheless did receive assistance that was valuable toward their recovery and (re)integration. Interviews with trafficked persons yielded many positive examples and experiences, including the important role played by various actors and agencies and (re)integration services in recovery and (re)integration processes. Nonetheless, many trafficked persons in the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS) did not have access to these "ideal" pathways and their experiences following their emergence from trafficking further exacerbated their ordeals. Many were neither identified nor assisted as victims of trafficking, which meant they did not receive support to aid in their recovery and sustainable (re)integration. Some trafficked persons received some forms of assistance but not the full package they required (and were entitled to) to move on from their trafficking experience and (re)integrate into society. Equally important, some preferred not to be assisted and declined some or all support offered to them. Understanding these diverse and complex post-trafficking trajectories sheds light on a wide range of issues and dynamics at play in the (re)integration processes in the GMS. It also highlights both the strengths and weaknesses of existing (re)integration mechanisms and processes. The study was based on in-depth interviews with 252 trafficked persons about their experiences of (re)integration, including successes and challenges, as well as future plans and aspirations. The trafficked persons interviewed for this study came from all six countries in the GMS and included men, women and children, trafficked for various forms of forced labour, sexual exploitation, begging and/or forced marriage. The study included persons who had been identified and assisted, as well as those who were not identified and/or did not receive assistance. This research study was undertaken in the context of the a region-wide (re)integration initiative under Project Proposal Concept 5 (PPC5) within the 2nd COMMIT Sub-regional Plan of Action (2008-2010), which sought to assess the effectiveness of (re)integration processes and structures in the region. It continued under the 3rd COMMIT Sub-regional Plan of Action (2011-2013) under Area 3, Protection. While the study is intended for anti-trafficking policymakers and practitioners in the GMS, these findings also have relevance for practitioners and policy makers in other countries and regions who are seeking to enhance their anti-trafficking response, in line with the interests and experiences of trafficked persons. Details: Bangkok: UNIAP/Nexus Institute, 2013. 252p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 19, 2014 at: http://www.nexusinstitute.net/publications/pdfs/After%20trafficking_Experiences%20and%20challenges%20in%20(Re)integration%20in%20the%20GMS.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Asia Keywords: Begging Shelf Number: 132084 |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Title: Regional Programme for Southeast Asia 2014 - 2017. Promoting the Rule of Law and Health to Address Drugs and Crime in Southeast Asia Summary: The Regional Programme (RP) outlines the proposed scope and focus of UNODC's work in Southeast Asia from 2014 to 2017. It provides a framework for delivering a coherent programme of work to: (i) give clear focus to supporting Member States and regional partners in achieving priority crime and drug outcomes in the region; and (ii) increase the responsiveness, efficiency and effectiveness of UNODC's support to the region. The RP focuses primarily on regional crime and drug challenges that are best addressed through coordinated cross-border and intra-regional cooperation. UNODC Country Programs (where they exist) are linked to the Regional Programme and focus on specific national level needs and support requirements. The RP is supported by an expert team that ensures consistency of approach and the sharing of expertise between jurisdictions. The proposed programme of work has been developed in close consultation with countries of the region and other regional partners, and the situation analysis includes: A profile of UNODC's global strategy, governing bodies and mandates A brief description of the broad regional development context An overview of the key drugs and crime challenges facing the region. Particular attention is given to: (i) transnational organised crime and illicit trafficking; (ii) anti-corruption; (iii) terrorism prevention; (iv) criminal justice; and (v) drugs and health, and alternative development A profile of regional institutions and initiatives relevant to UNODC's mandates and work. Details: Bangkok: UNODC, 2014. 84p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 28, 2014 at: https://www.unodc.org/documents/southeastasiaandpacific/Publications/2013/SEA_RP_masterversion_6_11_13.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Asia Keywords: Drug Abuse and Addiction Shelf Number: 132196 |
Author: Banks, Debbie Title: The Tiger Skin Trail Summary: A report, released at the 13th meeting of the Conference of the Parties of CITES in Thailand, revealing new evidence of the illegal trade in tiger skins. It draws together information from India, Nepal and China as the source, transit and destination countries, highlighting the urgent need for governments to improve wildlife crime investigation. Details: London: Environmental Investigation Agency, 2004. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 7, 2014 at: http://eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/TheTigerSkinTrail-Low-Res.pdf Year: 2004 Country: Asia Keywords: Illegal Wildlife Trade Shelf Number: 132271 |
Author: United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking Title: Human Trafficking Sentinel Surveillance. Viet Nam - China Border 2010. Lang Son | Lao Cai | Quang Ninh Summary: The Mekong region contains diverse patterns of human trafficking. They are both internal and crossborder, highly organized and small-scale, involving sex, labour or marriage through both formal and informal recruitment mechanisms, and can involve men, women, boys, girls and entire families. China is a key destination country for victims of human trafficking from Viet Nam. Due to the underground nature of sex, labour, and marriage trafficking, it is hard to estimate the prevalence of human trafficking in either country, though one 2010 estimate from the Viet Nam Ministry of Public Security estimates that 60 percent of Vietnamese trafficking cases involves trafficking to China. The aim of UNIAP's sentinel surveillance is to assess the situation of Vietnamese deportees being returned from China and, using this information, map trafficking trends and patterns; establish types and profiles of cross-border trafficking victims; and document how brokers and traffickers operate to put Vietnamese in exploitative situations. Through the latter half of 2010, UNIAP researchers were deployed to Lang Son, Lao Cai, and Quang Ninh international border checkpoints to conduct site surveys and structured, indepth interviews with a non-representative sample of 93 male and female Vietnamese citizens deported from China. The research uncovered undocumented labour migration that sometimes involved human trafficking, and sometimes did not. The majority of the 93 deportees were, in fact, undocumented labour migrants who were deported due to immigration violations, and who had not been exploited or abused. However, 20.5 percent of the cases were likely human trafficking cases, including labour, marriage, and sex trafficking. There were also proactively intercepted cases that both Vietnamese and Chinese police identified as possible sex or marriage trafficking, where the likely victim was saved before being entered into an exploitative situation. Due to a variety of factors, including logistical factors related to difficulty in accessing the appropriate checkpoint in time given little advance notice, the sample of 93 deportees does not constitute a representative sample. However, since so little research has been conducted systematically examining Viet Nam-China trafficking into sex, marriage, and labour, these cases are examined with more emphasis on rich qualitative description of vulnerability, exploitation, and trafficking, supplemented with quantitative analysis. The beginning of this report begins with two case studies - one marriage trafficking case and one sex trafficking case - to illustrate the details of the broker-trafficker networks, extent of exploitation and perspectives of victims right from the start. There are six key recommendations proposed, based on the seven key findings from this round of sentinel surveillance. Recommendations for addressing risk factors among vulnerable populations are proposed for trafficking prevention and safe migration policy, as well as outreach and community-based work, primarily on the Viet Nam side but also where exploited Vietnamese are in China. Examining broker-trafficker networks and the exploitative employers, families, and brothels they feed aims to support a stronger investigative and protective response on both the Viet Nam and China sides, and to this end recommendations for where to target labour, marriage, and sex trafficking rings are also provided. Identifying knowledge and skill gaps in both government and non-government personnel working in antihuman trafficking and immigration control aims to help target capacity building and reduce mistreatment of trafficking victims thought to be immigration violators and thus criminals. Details: Bangkok: United Nations Inter-Agency Project on Human Trafficking, 2011. 84p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 10, 2014 at: http://www.no-trafficking.org/reports_docs/siren/SentinelVTNCHN.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Asia Keywords: Criminal Networks Shelf Number: 132315 |
Author: Kramer, Tom Title: Bouncing Back: Relapse in the Golden Triangle Summary: The illicit drug market in the Golden Triangle - Burma, Thailand and Laos - and in neighbouring India and China has undergone profound changes. This report documents those changes in great detail, based on information gathered on the ground in difficult circumstances by a group of dedicated local researchers. After a decade of decline, opium cultivation has doubled again and there has also been a rise in the production and consumption of ATS - especially methamphetamines. Drug control agencies are under constant pressure to apply policies based on the unachievable goal to make the region drug free by 2015. This report argues for drug policy changes towards a focus on health, development, peace building and human rights. Reforms to decriminalise the most vulnerable people involved could make the region's drug policies far more sustainable and cost-effective. Such measures should include abandoning disproportionate criminal sanctions, rescheduling mild substances, prioritising access to essential medicines, shifting resources from law enforcement to social services, alternative development and harm reduction, and providing evidence-based voluntary treatment services for those who need them. The aspiration of a drug free ASEAN in 2015 is not realistic and the policy goals and resources should be redirected towards a harm reduction strategy for managing - instead of eliminating - the illicit drug market in the least harmful way. In view of all the evidence this report presents about the bouncing back of the opium economy and the expanding ATS market, plus all the negative consequences of the repressive drug control approaches applied so far, making any other choice would be irresponsible. Details: Amsterdam: Transnational Institute, 2014. 116p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 16, 2014: http://www.tni.org/briefing/bouncing-back Year: 2014 Country: Asia Keywords: Drug Control Shelf Number: 132462 |
Author: Kramer, Tom Title: Withdrawal Symptoms in the Golden Triangle: A Drugs Market in Disarray Summary: Drug control agencies have called the significant decline in opium production in Southeast Asia over the past decade a 'success story'. The latest report of the Transnational Institute (TNI). based on in-depth research in the region, casts serious doubts on this claim noting that Southeast Asia suffers from a variety of 'withdrawal symptoms' that leave little reason for optimism. TNI's report shows that the rapid decline in production has caused major suffering among former poppy-growing communities in Burma and Laos, and poses serious questions about the sustainability of the opium bans in those countries. The report also notes that the decline in opium has been accompanied by a rise in the use of other drugs with an increase in health risks among consumers, including rising HIV/AIDS rates. "The Southeast Asian drug market is going through a process of profound transformation," says Tom Kramer, TNI's Southeast Asia expert. "The enforcement of opium bans in the Golden Triangle has driven hundreds of thousands of families deeper into poverty." Early warning signs show that opium cultivation in Burma and Laos is again on the increase and is spreading to previously unaffected areas in Burma. Meanwhile, production and consumption of Amphetamine Type Stimulants (ATS) - methamphetamine in particular - have increased even more rapidly than opium has gone down. "The traditional opium growing and consuming region has now evolved into a complex and dynamic market of opiates, ATS and pharmaceutical replacements," Kramer concludes. Details: Amsterdam: Transnational Institute, 2008. 98p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 16, 2014 at: http://www.tni-books.org/books/25-withdrawal-symptoms-in-the-golden-triangle.html Year: 2008 Country: Asia Keywords: Drug Control Shelf Number: 113224 |
Author: World Vision Title: Sex, Abuse and Childhood: A study about knowledge, attitudes and practices relating to child sexual abuse, including in travel and tourism, in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam. Summary: Many adults and children in Thailand, Lao PDR, Cambodia and Vietnam have a limited understanding of what constitutes child sexual abuse and how to prevent it, revealed a new report, Sex, Abuse and Childhood: A study about knowledge, attitudes and practices relating to child sexual abuse, including in travel and tourism, in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam. The report, released today by Project Childhood Prevention Pillar, found that most children and adults understood child sexual abuse narrowly as the penetrative rape of girls. Other sexually abusive acts (such as inappropriate touching or exposure to pornography) were not generally recognised, as well as the sexual abuse of boys. The research in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Vietnam aimed to understand the general awareness and understanding of child sexual abuse in communities and the protective mechanisms utilised in reducing harm to children. It is through understanding this broader situation in communities that specific interventions to prevent child sexual abuse in travel and tourism can be effectively delivered over the long term in a sustainable way. Adults and children in the study had only a basic, limited understanding of child abuse and child rights, with child sexual abuse typically understood as the penetrative rape of girls. Few children identified anal sex, oral sex, participation in/exposure to pornography or masturbation as abusive sexual acts. Cases of grooming were documented across the research locations, yet grooming techniques used by both local and foreign offenders to gain access to children were not well understood by adults or children. Most children and adults confused the legal age of consent with the legal age of marriage and perceived this mainly as a form of control over, rather than a protective mechanism for, children. School children received information about anatomy and reproductive health at schools and from NGOs but rarely received more detailed information focusing specifically on child sexual abuse prevention strategies. Researchers identified five main sources of education about sex and sex-related issues for children: media and the internet, friends and peers, schools, public information campaigns, and personal experience/observation. Parents were not found to be a major source of information about sex for children and demonstrated the lowest levels of understanding on the issue of child sexual abuse. Despite the strong influence of the internet, digital and media technologies on the attitudes and sexual behaviour of children, parents and duty bearers were generally not aware of its effects, nor did they provide adequate supervision or information about the risks posed (e.g. online grooming). In general, many adults and children appeared to lack a thorough understanding of child sexual abuse and practical ways to identify, prevent or respond to it. Details: Melbourne: World Vision Australia, 2014. 87p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 2, 2014 at: http://www.childsafetourism.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/06/Sex-Abuse-Childhood-Report.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Prostitution Shelf Number: 132590 |
Author: Kumari, Ranjana Title: Violence against Women in Politics. (A study conducted in India, Nepal and Pakistan) Summary: As India's weeks-long federal election continues, the fear of violence prevents many women from participating in the political process, according to a new study. The number of women who vote and contest elections has increased in India, Nepal and Pakistan, but the share of female representatives in national governments decreased, according to a study released Wednesday by UN Women and New Delhi-based Centre for Social Research. This is because more than 60% of women were afraid they would face violence if they participated in politics, said the study, conducted between 2003 and 2013. In India's federal elections in 2009, 556 women ran for office, but only 59, or 10% were elected, a drop in almost 7% from the 1999 election, in which 49 of 284 women were elected, according to the report titled "Violence against Women in Politics." Most victims of violence were poor, lower caste, young women who entered politics, according to the study. India's small share of powerful female politicians are eyeing central roles in the new government once polls end in May, but a majority of Indian women did not enter the male-dominated political circles because they thought it made them vulnerable to violence, the study said. The most widespread risks faced by women in politics include the expectation of sexual favors and threats of violence, according to 800 male and female respondents surveyed across the three countries. Character assassination, verbal harassment and emotional blackmail were also used against women who contest elections. "When men fail to find fault in women's activities or progress, they raise questions on womens chastity," said Netra Prasad Panthi, a politician from the Rupendehi district of Nepal, according to the study. While physical violence, verbal abuse and the threat of violence were higher for India, character assassination was seen as the greatest threat in Pakistan and Nepal. The attitude that a woman's primary responsibility is at home also kept women out of politics. 70% of respondents in India said that even as an elected candidate, a woman should not ignore her domestic responsibilities, and 53% said that a woman's family should decide if she can participate in elections. Another finding in the study showed that 53% of Indian respondents said the country lacked adequate laws to prevent violence against women, and 81% said that the real problem was poor implementation of existing laws. Details: New Delhi: United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women; Centre for Social Research; 2014. 105p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 25, 2014 at: http://www.unwomensouthasia.org/assets/VAWIP-Report.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Asia Keywords: Politics Shelf Number: 132771 |
Author: White, Gentry Title: Modelling the Effectiveness of Counter-terrorism Interventions Summary: This paper models the connection between the rate of terrorist events and the occurrence of counter-terrorism interventions in order to examine the relative effectiveness of the interventions. Using data from the Global Terrorism Database and information on interventions collected by the authors, model results show that for Indonesia, the Philippines and Thailand, reactive types of interventions, such as arrests, indictments, imprisonments, assassinations and other operational activities show the strongest association with the rate of terrorism incidents over time. Maximum effectiveness - as measured by the number of days after an intervention exhibits its full inhibitory effect on the risk of subsequent terrorist attacks - was found to be greatest in Indonesia and the Philippines (11 days and 8 days respectively) and least effective in Thailand (impacting only on the day the intervention occurred). This paper also examines the number of days after an intervention that the response was able to maintain a high level of effectiveness - 17 days in Indonesia, 13 days in the Philippines and one day in Thailand. There were significant differences across these three countries and these results highlight a new approach to conceptualising the interaction between terrorism and counter-terrorism efforts. Details: Canberra: Australian Institute of Criminology, 2014. 8p. Source: Internet Resource: Trends & Issues in Crime and Criminal Justice, no. 475: Accessed August 12, 2014 at: http://aic.gov.au/media_library/publications/tandi_pdf/tandi475.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Asia Keywords: Counter-Terrorism Shelf Number: 133016 |
Author: Burgess, Elizabeth A. Title: Brought to Bear: An Analysis of Seizures Across Asia (2000-2011) Summary: At a global level, seven out of every 10 documented bear seizure involves an Asian country or territory. To better understand trade dynamics, all bear-related seizures reported in Asia between 2000 and 2011 (694 cases in total) were analysed. The vast majority of reported seizures involved Cambodia (190), China (145), Viet Nam (102), Russia (59), Malaysia (38), Thailand (29), Lao PDR (29) and India (23), and an analysis of all cases suggests that a minimum of 2801 individual bears had been traded for their parts and derivatives during that period. Of those, 69% of the trade volume (or 1934 bears) were seized in Russia and China alone, accounting for 1252 (45%) and 682 individuals (24%) respectively and therefore represents a substantial threat to the existence of wild bears. Owing to the illicit nature of this trade, the volumes of trade reported in this study are likely to represent only a fraction of the actual number of bears and bear parts being trafficked around the world. This report highlights the multiplicity of how bears are being exploited for trade across Asia. The trade encompasses all four endemic species of bears found across Asia: Asiatic Black Bear Ursus thibetanus, Sun Bear Helarctos malayanus, Sloth Bear Melursus ursinus, and Brown Bear Ursus arctos and involves more than 17 countries/territories in the region, each with certain preferences for particular bear products. The motivations for trading bears are wide ranging, including poaching live bears to stock bile farming operations; pet or dancing bear trade; sourcing dead bears and their parts for meat consumption; skins and trophies; and/or gall bladders and bile extractions to manufacture traditional medicines. As a result, bears are traded as live or dead specimens, partitioned into trophies, skins, meat, bones, claws, teeth, gall bladders and bile derivatives. The predominance of illegal international trade reported by non-range States suggests that source countries are failing to detect a significant proportion of bear product exports. The United States and New Zealand seized a significant number of shipments containing illegal bear items, mainly derivatives, exported from Asia (79% and 76% respectively of all their bear-related seizures). This is believed to be largely fuelled by the demand for traditional medicine products by Chinese and Vietnamese communities in these countries. Further study is necessary to understand the dynamics and potential threat from these countries, in relation to illegal trade emanating from Asia. Overall, non-Asian countries were better at reporting seizures, which typically occurred during importation. Reporting trends showed that Asian range States particularly China, Viet Nam and Russia failed to detect and/or report illegal bear exports. The bulk of such illegal exports were detected and reported by non-Asian countries at the point of import. Analysis of trade and seizure data for this report indicates that since 2000, a disparity exists between the number of reported seizures and the calculated number of bears seized. For example, Cambodia reported the highest number of seizures (27% / 190) during the period examined but accounted for only 9% (253) of the number of bears seized in the region. Conversely, only 8% (59) of reported seizures took place in Russia, yet 45% (1252) of the total number of bears seized were recorded within these relatively few cases. The comparatively low number of seizures recorded in Russia, but with large numbers of bears involved, serves to highlight that a significant level of trade may occur undetected by law enforcement authorities. Details: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia; TRAFFIC, 2014. 44p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 28, 2014 at: http://www.traffic.org/home/2014/8/21/parts-of-2800-bears-seized-in-asia-over-a-12-year-period.html Year: 2014 Country: Asia Keywords: Bears Shelf Number: 133155 |
Author: Horne, Dylan Title: Policy Responses to Transnational Wildlife Crime in the Asia-Pacific: Part 1: Global and Regional Policy Context and a Potential Framework for Optimal National Policy Summary: Transnational Wildlife Crime (wildlife crime) involves the trading and smuggling across borders of species in violation of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES). Globally, governments and international organisations have responded to the challenges of transnational environmental crime (TEC) in both operational and policy contexts. The policy context is defined as the suite of documents, plans, programs, regulatory schemes, and strategies that provide for a coordinated, coherent response to, and support for, the fight against wildlife crime. Current knowledge of this policy context, and particularly of policy responses at the national and agency levels, is poor. This paper is the first of two research papers intended to provide a preliminary analysis of the current wildlife crime policy context and its effectiveness in dealing with wildlife crime. This paper contains an overview of the high level (global and regional) policy context for the Asia-Pacific region as it applies to six Asia-Pacific countries: Australia, Fiji, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Thailand and Vietnam. The high-level policy context was summarised through desktop investigation of freely-available online material. The paper goes on to determine a potential set of 'optimal' requirements for wildlife crime policy at the national level based on existing literature. These requirements fell into four broad categories: the optimal wildlife crime policy response at the national level must be (1) proactive and intelligence based, (2) multifaceted, addressing many aspects of the problem, (3) multilateral, involving cooperation between several actors, and (4) monitored, evaluated, and adapted as necessary. Details: Canberra: Transnational Environmental Crime Project, Department of International Relations, 2013. 21p. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper 1/2013: Accessed September 11, 2014 at: http://ips.cap.anu.edu.au/sites/default/files/IPS/IR/TEC/TEC_Working_Paper_Part%201_2013_PolicyResponses_to_Transnational_Wildlife_Crime_in_the_Asia-Pacific.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Asia Keywords: Wildlife Conservation Shelf Number: 129899 |
Author: Nijman, Vincent Title: Keeping an ear to the ground: Monitoring the trade in earless monitor lizards Summary: An unusual and little-known monitor lizard from Borneo that has captured the interest of reptile collectors is emerging as the latest victim of the global illicit wildlife trade, an investigative report by TRAFFIC warns. Lanthanotus borneensis or the Earless Monitor Lizard had long remained virtually unknown to the outside world due to its subterranean habits and limited distribution in north-western Borneo. Unknown, that is, until recently gaining attention from unscrupulous reptile collectors. Earless Monitor Lizards have no external ear opening, a cylindrical lengthened body covered in scaly tubercles (due to an increased number of vertebrae), small limbs, a prehensile tail, a forked tongue, and small eyes with the lower eyelid covered by translucent "windows". As such it is placed in its own monospecific family Lanthanotidae. The small, orange-brown lizard with beaded skin was once primarily of interest to scientists because of its unique adaptations for living below ground, and there were few instances of private ownership reported during the last 30 years. However, there has been a sudden emergence in the trade of this species over the past two years. Through its research, TRAFFIC detected international trade in Earless Monitor Lizards that has largely been carried out online from 2013 onwards. Specific instances mentioning the species were documented on forums and social networking sites in Japan, the Ukraine, France, Germany and the Czech Republic. The study found specimens being offered for sale online across Europe and received intelligence about a significant off-take of the animals from the wild. This was corroborated by discussions in online forums on the availability of the animals for sale, where there were frequent references to the lizard as being the "Holy Grail" of the reptile collecting world. Details: Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia: TRAFFIC, 2014. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: A Traffic Report: Accessed September 15, 2014 at: http://www.traffic.org/home/2014/9/8/international-smuggling-threatens-the-holy-grail-of-the-rept.html Year: 2014 Country: Asia Keywords: Endangered Animals Shelf Number: 133309 |
Author: Solotaroff, Jennifer L. Title: Violence against Women and Girls: Lessons from South Asia Summary: Violence against Women and Girls: Lessons from South Asia examines the prevalence and factors associated with various types of violence against women and girls in Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan, and Sri Lanka. It analyzes the nature of violence throughout the life cycle and highlights gaps where intensive research or interventions might be undertaken. Analyses of the most recent data reveal that South Asia has the world's highest levels of excess female child mortality and child marriage. The prevalence of intimate partner violence also remains unacceptably high, particularly for married adolescents. Reliable data are limited for other forms of violence. The number and intensity of efforts to address violence in the region are truly impressive and yield promising practices for future action. Important challenges remain, however-particularly the need for more rigorous evaluation and the urgency for actors to engage across forms of violence and to more systematically involve men and boys in addressing this violence. Different stakeholders have distinct roles to play if the region is to make progress in violence prevention and response, including increased funding of programs and evaluations. On the whole, strengthening the effectiveness, reach, and sustainability of interventions will involve multifaceted coordination across all actors on the ground. This book offers evidence-based recommendations for these actors and for coordination among them. Details: Washington, DC: World Bank, 2014. 332p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 25, 2014 at: https://publications.worldbank.org/index.php?main_page=product_info&cPath=1&products_id=24678 Year: 2014 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Marriage Shelf Number: 133412 |
Author: International Tax and Investment Center Title: Asia-14: Illicit Tobacco Indicator 2013 Summary: This study is an update and expansion of our previous research, 'Asia-11 Illicit Tobacco Indicator 2012'. In light of newly available data sources, it has been possible to extend the coverage to include Cambodia, Laos, and Myanmar, resulting in full coverage of the 10 ASEAN member countries plus Australia, Hong Kong, Pakistan, and Taiwan. In 2013, 10.9% of cigarettes consumed in Asia-141 were illicit Total Consumption (legal and illicit) across the Asia-14 was an estimated 760.1 billion cigarettes in 2013. Of this, 10.9% or 82.8 billion cigarettes in Asia-14 were estimated to have been illicit. In ASEAN, Total Consumption was an estimated 608.2 billion cigarettes in 2013. Of this, 9.1% or 55.6 billion cigarettes were estimated to have been illicit. In 2013, the share of Illicit Consumption increased in 7 of the 11 markets that were part of the 'Asia-11 Illicit Tobacco Indicator 2012' report Nearly three quarters of Illicit Consumption occurred in just three markets: Pakistan (22.8% Illicit), the Philippines (18.1%), and Vietnam (20.7%). In the 11 markets for which estimates are available for both 2012 and 2013 (i.e., the 'Asia-11'), Illicit Consumption is estimated to have increased by 20.1%, from 66.5 billion cigarettes to 79.9 billion cigarettes (an increase of 13.4 billion cigarettes). This was driven primarily by the rise in Illicit Consumption in the Philippines (by 12.7 billion cigarettes, an increase of 198%), underpinned by significant growth in Domestic Illicit Consumption. 7 markets (Australia, Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Taiwan, and Vietnam) saw an increase in the share of Illicit Consumption in Total Consumption of cigarettes between 2012 and 2013. The steepest rise was again in the Philippines. However, Pakistan, and Singapore saw noticeable declines in the share of Illicit Consumption in 2013, the former a result of declining Domestic Illicit volumes, and the latter a consequence of a decline in Contraband. In both cases, however, the share of Illicit Consumption in Total Consumption remained much higher than the Asia-14 average. Domestic and Non Domestic Illicit both contributed to the rise in Illicit Consumption in Asia There was a 181.2% rise in Domestic Illicit Consumption in the Philippines (equal to 11.0 billion cigarettes). A small amount of Domestic Illicit was also identified in Indonesia in 2013. A number of markets saw a rise in Non-Domestic Illicit cigarettes in 2013. Consumption of Contraband cigarettes increased in Indonesia and Taiwan, while consumption of Counterfeit cigarettes rose sharply in the Philippines. There were increases in Non-Domestic Illicit of Unspecified Market Variant in Australia and Vietnam. Asia-14 government tax revenue losses from Illicit Consumption totalled US$ 3.9 billion in 2013 The tax loss associated with Illicit Consumption of cigarettes increased in 6 markets compared with 2012. In the 11 markets for which estimates are available for both 2012 and 2013, the estimated tax loss from Illicit Consumption increased from US$ 3.4 billion in 2012 to US$ 3.9 billion, an increase of 13.8%. The largest rise in tax loss in absolute terms was in the Philippines (497%). Australia and Indonesia also experienced a significant rise in estimated tax losses from Illicit Consumption. The government tax revenue losses from Illicit Consumption in the ASEAN region totalled US$ 2.1 billion in 2013. Details: Oxford, UK: Oxford Economics, 2014. 220p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 8, 2014 at: http://www.pmi.com/eng/tobacco_regulation/illicit_trade/Documents/Asia-14%20Illicit%20Tobacco%20Indicator%202013.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Asia Keywords: Cigarettes Shelf Number: 134222 |
Author: International Tax and Investment Center Title: Asia-11: Illicit Tobacco Indicator 2012 Summary: In 2012, 9% of cigarettes consumed in Asia-11 were illicit Total Consumption (legal and illicit) across the Asia-111 markets covered in this report totalled an estimated 736.4 billion cigarettes in 2012, of which 9.0% or 66.5 billion cigarettes are estimated to have been illicit. This includes consumption of illicit imports and illicit products locally manufactured, such as under/non-declared products from local manufacturers. Illicit share was over 25% in five markets Brunei, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, and Pakistan all had estimated shares of illicit cigarettes in Total Consumption of over 25% in 2012. Illicit volumes were highest in Pakistan, Vietnam, and Malaysia In 2012, in both Vietnam and Pakistan, Illicit Consumption was over 20 billion cigarettes. In Malaysia the volume of illicit cigarettes was estimated at almost 8 billion. Domestic illicit cigarette volumes were highest in Pakistan and the Philippines In Pakistan and the Philippines, illicit cigarettes produced by local manufacturers and sold in the market without payment of taxes totalled an estimated 25 billion cigarettes in 2012. Asia-11 government tax revenue losses from Illicit Consumption totaled US$ 3.4 billion in 2012 The biggest tax losses in absolute terms occurred in Australia, Malaysia, Hong Kong, and Vietnam. Details: Oxford, UK: Oxford Economics, 2013. 132p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 8, 2014 at: http://www.pmi.com/eng/tobacco_regulation/illicit_trade/Documents/Asia_11_Illicit_Tobacco_Indicator_2012.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Asia Keywords: Cigarettes Shelf Number: 133908 |
Author: Wassel, Todd Title: Institutionalising community policing in Timor-Leste: police development in Asia's youngest country Summary: As part of ODI's Securing Communities project, which aims to understand different models of community policing around the world, this case study examines the development of community policing policy and practice in Timor-Leste. As with the Securing Communities project more broadly, the focus is on the diversity of objectives, approaches and methods of community policing, the 'messy politics' of its development and what this means for those who aim to support this policing model. This case study examines some key features of community policing policy development and practice in Timor-Leste. Details: London: Overseas Development Institute, 2014. 41p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 9, 2014 at: http://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/8841.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Asia Keywords: Community Policing (Timor-Leste) Shelf Number: 133620 |
Author: Svoboda, Eva Title: The search for common ground: Police, protection and coordination in Timor-Leste Summary: Despite only recently celebrating its tenth anniversary as an independent nation, Timor-Leste has had an extensive experience of international engagement, with two military interventions and five UN missions over the course of less than 13 years. This study examines the evolution of policing in UN missions in Timor-Leste between 1999 and 2012, highlighting their impact on the development of the National Police of Timor-Leste (PNTL) and the PNTL's relationship with the Timorese military, the Timor-Leste Defence Force (F-FDTL). The report focuses particularly on the violence that flared up in the country in April-June 2006, and examines the coordination mechanisms and actors involved in the response. Key findings: - Improvements are needed if international and national police in transitional settings are to provide an effective and reliable service for people affected by violence and crime. - Fragmentation, lack of clarity and language issues undermined the performance of UN police as well as the development of the PNTL throughout the 13 years of international missions. - The failure to take into account the legacy of the liberation struggle, and the prestige veterans of that struggle hold within Timorese society, hampered efforts to promote the independence and integrity of the PTNL. Details: London: Overseas Development Institute, Humanitarian Policy Group, 2013. 38p. Source: Internet Resource: HPG Working Paper: Accessed October 9, 2014 at: http://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/odi-assets/publications-opinion-files/8783.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Asia Keywords: Police Performance Shelf Number: 133621 |
Author: Duffy, Rosaleen Title: Rhino Poaching: How do we respond? Summary: This report outlines the main actors in rhino conservation, the major main threats to rhinos in the 'Big 4' range states (Zimbabwe, Kenya, South Africa and Namibia) which together conserve almost 99% and 96% of Africa's wild white and black rhino respectively, and offers a review of a range of possible policy responses. The main conservation actors across the Big 4 can be grouped as: - Public sector conservation agencies, including government departments and parastatal boards - International organisations - Regional organisations - Locally based NGOs - Private sector - External agencies, including conservation NGOs and donors - Sub-state entities, including local communities The range of actors is slightly different in each country, and the relative importance of different actors varies across countries. The main threats to black and white rhinos are: - Poaching, driven by illegal demand for rhino horn from South East Asia - Disinvestment by some in the private sector due to the increasing costs and risks of protecting rhinos coupled with declining incentives for conserving rhino - Resources are currently insufficient to adequately protect some populations Currently poaching rates are lower than birth rates, so rhino numbers continue to rise. However, poaching at a continental level has increased significantly since 2007-8; and if this trend continues unabated the tipping point (where deaths start to exceed births and rhino numbers start declining) could be reached as early as 2014/2015. Therefore interventions to tackle poaching at this stage can be seen as a critically important preventative measure. There are 9 key findings from the review of possible policy responses: 1. Each range state requires a different menu of approaches that deal with both proximate and ultimate causes of the rises in rhino poaching. 2. Capturing the economic value of rhinos is important. 3. Even though it is illegal, there is currently a lucrative market for rhino horn products in some countries. 4. Efforts need to focus on demand reduction in end user communities, but there is insufficient knowledge of the dynamics of those markets. 5. Despite increased prison sentences in some rhino range states, poaching continues to escalate in some countries, while some states do not or did not have 'deterrence sentences' at all. 6. Dehorning can have a (limited) deterrence effect but is not a practical option for all rhino populations. 7. Community Based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM) can have a (limited) deterrence effect. 8. Each of the 4 range states faces a different combination of threats and their circumstances differ, therefore efforts need to be tailored and targeted 9. Effective Governance 'Matters'. Details: London, UK: Evidence on Demand, 2013. 35p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 22, 2014 at: http://www.evidenceondemand.info/rhino-poaching-how-do-we-respond Year: 2013 Country: Asia Keywords: Animal Poaching (Africa) Shelf Number: 133790 |
Author: Khan, M.E. Title: Sexuality, Gender Roles, and Domestic Violence in South Asia Summary: The Population Council has recently released a report titled 'Sexuality, Gender Roles and Domestic Violence in South Asia.' The report involves a wealth of data about patterns of sexuality and gender inequities, which have serious consequences in relation to the spread of HIV infections in the region. A key finding of the report is that women are often unable to negotiate the use of contraception and other safe sex practices in domestic relationships. The dynamics of gender inequalities in South Asia make it very difficult for women to protect themselves against possible HIV and sexually transmitted infection risks. Another key message is that young men and women often have little knowledge about reproductive health and sex, because of a lack of information. Details: New York: Population Council, 2014. 373p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 12, 2014 at: http://www.popcouncil.org/uploads/pdfs/2014RH_SGBVSouthAsia.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Asia Keywords: Domestic Violence (Asia) Shelf Number: 134040 |
Author: Torres, Sol Title: Slavery and Human Trafficking in the 21st Century Summary: An estimated 30 million people are subject to modern day slavery, including forced labor and sexual exploitation. Moreover, the trafficking of human beings is one of the fastest growing transnational criminal activities. Not only is it an abuse of the human rights of the victims involved, but it also incurs social, political, and economic costs for the countries it most impacts. Providing first an overview of the global phenomenon of modern-day slavery, this paper proceeds to study the Greater Mekong Subregion for whose states human trafficking represents a serious challenge-one which requires a well-coordinated response to, among other measures, scrutinize labor contracts in risk economic sectors, enhance interstate cooperation, and more effectively identify and prosecute human traffickers. Details: Stockholm: Institute for Security and Development Policy, 2014. 10p. Source: Internet Resource: Focus Asia, No. 10: Accessed November 18, 2014 at: http://www.isdp.eu/publications/index.php?option=com_jombib&task=showbib&id=6487 Year: 2014 Country: Asia Keywords: Forced Labor Shelf Number: 134132 |
Author: Zimmerman, Cathy Title: Health and human trafficking in the Greater Mekong Subregion: Findings from a survey of men, women and children in Thailand, Cambodia and Viet Nam Summary: Trafficking in human beings is a gross violation of human rights that often involves extreme exploitation and abuse. People are trafficked for various forms of exploitation, including labour exploitation in various low-skilled sectors and sexual exploitation. In these circumstances, trafficked persons are exposed to a multitude of health risks, in addition to violence, deprivation and serious occupational hazards. These dangers frequently result in acute and longer-term morbidity - and sometimes even death. Many, if not most, of those who survive a trafficking experience will require medical care for their physical and psychological health needs. To date, there has been very limited robust research on the health consequences of human trafficking, and to our knowledge, no surveys have been conducted on the health needs of survivors of trafficking for various forms of labour in the Greater Mekong subregion. In response to evidence gaps on health and trafficking, a prospective, cross-sectional, multi-site survey was conducted among people in post-trafficking services to identify their health risks and priority health-care needs. The findings of this survey were based on responses provided by 1,102 people who had been exploited and were willing to share their experiences and voice their health concerns. While these findings illustrate an overwhelming panorama of abuse, at the same time they offer a picture of hope through the opportunity to understand and respond with better health protection and response mechanisms in the future. Details: International Organization for Migration and London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, 2014. 102p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 27, 2015 at: http://th.iom.int/images/report/Health_and_Human_Trafficking_in_the_GMS.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Asia Keywords: Forced Labor Shelf Number: 134726 |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Title: Southeast Asia Opium Survey 2014: Lao PDR, Myanmar Summary: This year's Southeast Asia Opium Survey shows that despite continued eradication efforts, opium production remains a significant challenge to sustainable development in the region. Poppy cultivation in the 'Golden Triangle' of Myanmar and Lao PDR rose in 2014 to 63,800ha, compared with 61,200ha in 2013. The estimated total amount of opium produced in the area in 2014 is approximately 762 tons, with the overwhelming majority of cultivation continuing to take place in Myanmar. The data further emphasize the urgent need to address root causes of cultivation and promote alternative development. Surveys of farmers indicate that, for many, the money made from poppy cultivation is an essential part of family income and support. Villages threatened with food insecurity and poverty need sustainable alternatives, or they will have little choice beyond growing this cash crop out of desperation. Indications of high levels of consumption of the refined form of opium - heroin - in parts of the region also represent a clear danger to health and development, underscoring the need for evidence-based, health-centred approaches to prevention and treatment. Efforts to tackle the trafficking of heroin and essential precursor chemicals by criminal groups must also be supported. Most of the heroin trafficked from Myanmar goes to neighbouring countries to meet demand in large population centres, but it is also trafficked to other parts of the region and to global markets. Meanwhile, precursors required to produce heroin are trafficked into Myanmar from neighbouring countries. This two-way trade in and out of the Golden Triangle needs to be halted. Traffickers also appear to be exploiting well-intended regional connectivity and integration plans, including the ASEAN Economic Community and supporting initiatives of international financial institutions. Efforts need to be made to strengthen the capacity and coordination of border, justice and health authorities to counter this transnational challenge. A balanced approach addressing opium production through alternative livelihood initiatives, preventing drug use and providing evidence-based treatment, while countering trafficking of heroin and related precursor chemicals, in line with the international drug control conventions and compliance with human rights standards, should be prioritized by states and international partners to safeguard and promote the region's sustainable development. Details: Bangkok: UNODC Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, 2014. 105p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 11, 2015 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/crop-monitoring/sea/SE-ASIA-opium-poppy-2014-web.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Asia Keywords: Drug Abuse and Addiction Shelf Number: 134897 |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Title: Migrant Smuggling in Asia: Current Trends and Related Challenges Summary: The report, entitled Migrant Smuggling in Asia: Current Trends and Related Challenges, analyzes the smuggling of migrants in 28 states from the Middle East to the Pacific and finds that criminal networks are creatively exploiting gaps between demand and regular migration, with smuggling fees to get to some destinations now reported as high as $50,000. The report also stresses that a significant number of migrants use smugglers to cross borders in order to seek a better life, but end up in human trafficking situations. Far away from home and working illegally, smuggled migrants have little ability to assert basic rights and become vulnerable to abuse, trafficking and exploitation. Southeast Asia continues to serve as an important source, transit and destination for migrant smuggling, with the majority of smuggling taking place within the region but with routes also reaching countries as far as Australia, New Zealand, Canada and the United States. Migrant smugglers operate in highly flexible networks and quickly adapt to changing circumstances, such as redirecting routes in response to increased border controls. "In addition, the production and use of fraudulent documents are widespread," said Mr. Douglas. "People that make use of smugglers face increased risks to their health and safety." The complex phenomenon of migrant smuggling in Asia defies simplistic solutions. UNODC calls on countries to comprehensively address migrant smuggling, embedded in wider trafficking, migration and development policies - in line with the UN Convention on Transnational Organised Crime. To address the situation, the report recommends strengthening data generation and understanding, and improving national laws and policies while protecting the rights of migrants, as well as building operational capacity at border crossings to identify, investigate and prosecute smuggling and trafficking networks, and the protection of victims. This will require international cooperation and political will, as well as the development of affordable, accessible and safe avenues for legal migration. Details: New York: UNODC, 2015. 341p. Source: Internet Resource: Knowledge Product: 5: Accessed May 13, 2015 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/southeastasiaandpacific/Publications/2015/som/Current_Trends_and_Related_Challenges_web.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Asia Keywords: Human Smuggling Shelf Number: 135617 |
Author: Heinl, Caitriona H. Title: Regional Cyber Security: Moving Towards a Resilient ASEAN Cyber Security Regime Summary: This paper outlines regional level cooperation efforts of the Association for Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to counter serious cross-border cyber threats and identifies where gaps might exist, which require further and urgent consideration. It considers whether more might be done to create a comprehensive approach to cyber security in the ASEAN region. Finally, it aims to fill identified gaps by providing several recommendations for possible future development and implementation to create a resilient regional cyber security regime. Details: Singapore: S. Rajaratnam School of International Studies, 2013. 71p. Source: Internet Resource: RSIS Working Paper no. 263: Accessed May 28, 2015 at: http://www.rsis.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/rsis-pubs/WP263.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Asia Keywords: Cybercrimes Shelf Number: 129960 |
Author: Burgess, Meryl Title: Rhino poaching and East Asian policies: Facts and debates Summary: 2011-2012 saw the highest levels of poaching and illegal trade in rhino horn in many years, bringing some rhino species towards the verge of extinction in some African and Asian regions. Two of the world's five rhino species, the Javan and Sumatran species (found in Asia), have been reduced to only a few dozen while in Africa, the black and white rhino have been under increasing threat by poachers. With increasing wealth in East Asia, the demand for rhino horn - in use in traditional medicine - is also increasing; Rhino horns can fetch up to US$ 110,000 per kilogram. The issue is not simply a Chinese one: In South Africa, the number of poachers arrested has included Thai, Vietnamese and Chinese nationals. From this assessment of current challenges in the rhino poaching crisis, largely in South Africa, and a discussion of the possibility of legalising the rhino horn trade, this briefing makes recommendations for East Asian authorities on their role in the crisis. Details: Stellenbosch, South Africa: Stellenbosch University, Centre for Chinese Studies, 2012 4p. Source: Internet Resource: Policy Briefing: Accessed May 30, 2015 at: http://www.ccs.org.za/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/MB-rhino-poaching-policy-briefing_FINAL.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Asia Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 135827 |
Author: Global Center on Cooperative Security Title: Strengthening Rule of Law Responses to Counter Violent Extremism: What Role for Civil Society in South Asia? Summary: Across South Asia, civil society has made important contributions to enhancing rule of law based efforts to prevent and counter terrorism and violent extremism. Their roles as advocates, monitors, technical experts, trainers, service providers, and information hubs complement the efforts of law enforcement and security actors, and many opportunities exist for partnerships. Civil society actors have also played an important role in promoting development, improved governance and human rights in the region, and in promoting a resilient social contract between citizens and the state. This policy brief reflects on these contributions and explores opportunities for civil society to support cooperative regional efforts to respond to terrorism and violent extremism in the region. It draws largely from a workshop on "Strengthening Rule of Law-Based Responses to Terrorism and Violent Extremism in South Asia: What Role for Civil Society?" organized by the Global Center, in partnership with the Institute of South Asian Studies (ISAS) at the National University of Singapore and The Institute for Inclusive Security. Following an overview of the limitations and challenges faced by civil society actors in the region, it offers a set of recommendations for policymakers and practitioners with a view to informing the design and implementation of programming to prevent violent extremism and terrorism in South Asia. Details: Washington, DC: Global Center on Cooperative Security, 2015. 13p. Source: Internet Resource: Policy Brief: Accessed June 1, 2015 at: http://www.globalcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2015/05/May-2015_Strengthening-Rule-of-Law-Responses-to-Counter-Violent-Extremism3.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Asia Keywords: Counter-Terrorism Shelf Number: 135839 |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Global SMART Programme Title: The Challenge of Synthetic Drugs in East and South-East Asia and Oceania: Trends and Patterns of Amphetamine-type Stimulants and New Psychoactive Substances 2015 Summary: The report - titled ' The Challenge of Synthetic Drugs in East and South-East Asia and Oceania: Trends and Patterns of Amphetamine-type Stimulants and New Psychoactive Substances 2015' - analyses recent trends and developments of the synthetic drugs market in the region, comprising both amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) and new psychoactive substances (NPS). The report also highlights the harmful impact of the illicit trade in synthetic drugs on countries' development and the evolving challenges for Governments in their efforts to respond to this threat. East and South-East Asia and Oceania have the world's largest ATS market which is dominated by methamphetamine in crystalline ('ice') and tablet ('yaba' or 'yama') forms. The illegal ATS trade is expanding and diversifying with the increasing availability of NPS which are not under international control. Moreover, the high availability of ATS precursor chemicals for legitimate industrial use in the region could increase the risk of their diversion for methamphetamine and ecstasy manufacture. Methamphetamine seizures in East and South-East Asia and Oceania have almost quadrupled from about 11 tons in 2008 to almost 42 tons in 2013. Over this period, crystalline methamphetamine seizures in the region nearly doubled, to about 14 tons in 2013, while methamphetamine tablet seizures have risen at a more rapid rate resulting in an eight-fold increase, from 30 million tablets seized in 2008 to more than 250 million tablets seized in 2013. The significant increase in seizures might partly be the result of effective law enforcement measures, but also points to expanding manufacture and an increase of trafficking to and through the region, as the synthetic drugs market is becoming increasingly interconnected with other regions. In 2013, illicit methamphetamine manufacture was detected in most countries in East and South-East Asia and Oceania. Whereas the manufacture of methamphetamine tablets is largely confined to the countries of the Mekong sub-region, crystalline methamphetamine continues to be manufactured in the region on a large scale. This lucrative and growing ATS market has attracted the increasing activity of complex international drug trafficking networks, with crystalline methamphetamine in the region now also originating from Western Africa, Western Asia, North America, and, more recently, South Asia. "Increased cross-border trade, regional integration and reduced border restrictions in Southeast Asia have also created opportunity for increasing the cross-border trafficking of drugs and the precursors needed to make them", said Jeremy Douglas, UNODC's Representative in Southeast Asia and the Pacific. "It is undeniable that many positive economic opportunities and benefits are being seen, but the activity of transnational criminal groups involved in the region's synthetic drug trade is also increasing, posing a challenge for governments and regional organizations like the ASEAN Secretariat to develop an effective response." The reports notes that according to Government experts, the expansion of licit trade flows and rapid economic growth in the region has also helped to fuel the rising demand for methamphetamine and other synthetic drugs in most countries. In 2013, an increase in the use of crystalline methamphetamine, methamphetamine tablets and 'ecstasy' was reported in the region. Until recently, the NPS market in the region has been dominated by the presence of ketamine, as well as the plant-based substances kratom and, more recently, khat. However, the number of NPS reported in East and South-East Asia and Oceania has increased significantly, from 34 substances in 2009 to 137 as of November 2014, with major increases within the synthetic cannabinoid group and the synthetic cathinone group, which mimics the effects of ATS. Ketamine seizures increased significantly to almost 10 tons in 2013, which marks an 85 per cent increase from the amount seized in 2012. Ketamine seizure information also indicates extensive inter-regional and intra-regional trafficking with ketamine from the East and South-East Asian region being mostly trafficked to Western Europe and North America. "Given that the risk profile of new psychoactive substances are not yet fully understood, their proliferation poses unforeseen health and public safety risks in Asia and Oceania," said Justice Tettey, Chief of the UNODC Laboratory and Scientific Section. "In the absence of control measures and appropriate risk communication strategies for these substances in many countries, the challenges for law enforcement and public health are immense." Given the growing complexity and interconnectedness of the illicit ATS and NPS trade in East and South-East Asia and Oceania, this report is an important contribution to the better understanding of the threat and impact of the region's synthetic drugs problem within a global context. The report also highlights the need for enhanced information exchange and cooperation on national, regional and international levels to establish an integrated effective response to the growing synthetic drugs problem. Details: Bangkok: Global SMART Programme (East Asia), United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), 2015. 45p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 9, 2015 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/southeastasiaandpacific/Publications/2015/drugs/ATS_2015_Report_web.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Asia Keywords: Drug Abuse and Addiction Shelf Number: 135976 |
Author: Shiraishi, Hiromi Title: Eel market dynamics: an analysis of Anguilla production, trade and consumption in East Asia Summary: Historically, farming and trade in East Asia involved the Japanese Eel Anguilla japonica, native to the region. From the 1990s, with growing scarcity of A. japonica, large quantities of European Eel A. anguilla glass eels were also imported. Concerns over the impact international trade was having on A. anguilla led to trade in it being regulated through a listing in Appendix II of CITES in 2007, and in December 2010, the European Union banned all trade in A. anguilla from the EU. As a consequence the Americas and South-East Asia have become increasingly important sources of juvenile eels of other Anguilla species for farms in East Asia. Eel production has steadily increased worldwide over the last 30 years, mainly because of the expansion of eel-farming, which accounted for 95% of total production in 2013, according to FAO data. Eel farming is reliant on growing out juvenile eels ("glass eels") from wild stocks since breeding in captivity is not yet commercially viable. Most of this expansion took place in East Asian countries/territories, with mainland China alone responsible for nearly 85% of global eel production in 2013. However, global eel production and consumption appears to have peaked and may now be going into reverse because of declining availability of wild stocks, controls on trade in glass eels, steep price increases, and changes in consumer behaviour affected by various issues including prices and food safety. Global demand for eels of the genus Anguilla has traditionally been driven by consumption in East Asia, especially in Japan. There are wide differences between data from the FAO, which indicate that Japan's consumption has fallen over the last decade from 60% to 15% of global eel production, and from East Asian sources, which suggest that the Japanese still consumed 30-45% in 2012-2013. While Japan's role as an eel consumer appears to have declined, there has been a rising popularity in Japanese cuisine and a consequent increase in the number of Japanese restaurants offering eel dishes overseas. Meanwhile, combined trade and FAO production data from China indicate a significant increase in domestic eel consumption over the past decade, reaching an estimated 150,000 tonnes in both 2012 and 2013, although once again large data discrepancies are evident. Historically, farming and trade in East Asia involved the Japanese Eel Anguilla japonica, native to the region. From the 1990s, with growing scarcity of A. japonica, large quantities of European Eel A. anguilla glass eels were also imported. Concerns over the impact international trade was having on A. anguilla led to trade in it being regulated through a listing in Appendix II of CITES in 2007, and in December 2010, the European Union banned all trade in A. anguilla from the EU. As a consequence the Americas and South-East Asia have become increasingly important sources of juvenile eels of other Anguilla species for farms in East Asia. Although less significant than Japan or mainland China, TRAFFIC's analysis also suggests that the domestic market for eels in South Korea has increased in the past decade, reportedly in response to a decline in meat consumption for health and food safety reasons. Customs trade data suggest that other important markets for eels produced in mainland China may be emerging, such as Russia, although data discrepancies make it difficult to draw any firm conclusions about the importance of any new/emerging markets. Possible reasons for discrepancies in data analysed for this report include the number of intermediaries through which they are passed prior to official reporting, a lack of comparability between Customs codes, incorrect application of Customs codes and under(over)-reporting of farming production. Many records of live eel fry imports into East Asia over the past decade have no corresponding records in exporter data. Customs and seizures data and other sources show that large quantities of eel fry have been exported illegally from Europe, the Philippines, Indonesia and also within East Asia over recent years, indicating that illegally-sourced glass eels are being used in East Asian farms. There are doubts over the legality not only of European Eels A. anguilla grown out in mainland China farms, which are continuing to be re-exported many years after glass eels could be legally sourced from the European Union, but also Japanese Eels A. japonica, which continue to be fished and traded illegally in the region. Changing farming, trade and demand dynamics are a conservation concern particularly for temperate eel species. European Eel is currently listed as Critically Endangered on The IUCN Red List of Threatened Species, and Japanese Eel and American Eel A. rostrata are listed as Endangered. There are fewer data for tropical Anguilla species, but conservation concerns also exist for several of these, including A. bicolor (Near Threatened), which because of its similar taste and texture is a popular second choice when Japanese Eel and European eel are unavailable. TRAFFIC concludes its report with regionally collaborative recommendations for enhancing the traceability of sourcing, farming and trade of eels, and the development of appropriate management and conservation decisions. Details: Tokyo: TRAFFIC Japan Office, 2015. 45p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 17, 2015 at: http://www.traffic.org/home/2015/7/13/traffic-report-tries-to-pin-down-slippery-eel-trade.html Year: 2015 Country: Asia Keywords: Eels Shelf Number: 136096 |
Author: Rabasa, Angel Title: Non-Traditional Threats and Maritime Domain Awareness in the Tri-Border of Southeast Asia: The Coast Watch System of the Philippines. Summary: The tri-border area (TBA) between the Philippines, Malaysia, and Indonesia has been identified as a key hub of terrorist and related criminal activity in Southeast Asia. This geographical space is a well-known transit zone for weapons, explosives, and personnel, as well as a principal logistical corridor for local and transnational terrorist groups. The U.S. government has devoted considerable resources to promoting maritime security initiatives in this region and, through a variety of capacity-building efforts, has been at the forefront of underwriting initiatives in each of the three countries. This approach has necessarily been country-specific, with an eye toward developing solutions that uniquely fit each nation. However, the ultimate goal has been to encourage cooperation and interoperability, both among the recipient states and with the United States. One of the most interesting collaborative initiatives is the evolving Coast Watch System (CWS) in the Philippines. Originally designed to improve maritime domain awareness in the Sulu and Celebes Seas, the concept has now been extended to cover the entire Philippine archipelago. This occasional paper analyzes the security environment in the TBA; evaluates the CWS and the challenges it has yet to overcome; and considers the prospects for an initiative to eventually form the basis of an integrated system of maritime security that would tie together the three states that converge in the TBAMalaysia, the Philippines, and Indonesia. The main purpose of this document is to act as a building block to guide further work on how best to establish an effective and viable system of regional maritime security architecture in this sensitive but understudied part of the world. Further analysis on maritime domain awareness (MDA) efforts by Malaysia and Indonesia would usefully complement this study. This research was sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense and conducted within the International Security and Defense Policy Center of the RAND National Defense Research Institute, a federally funded research and development center sponsored by the Office of the Secretary of Defense, the Joint Staff, the Unified Combatant Commands, the Navy, the Marine Corps, the defense agencies, and the defense Intelligence Community. The document should be of interest to the national security community, as well as academics, analysts, and informed members of the public interested in Southeast Asian security issues. Details: Santa Monica, CA: RAND, 2012. 50p. Source: Internet Resource: Occasional Paper: Accessed July 28, 2015 at: http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/occasional_papers/2012/RAND_OP372.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Asia Keywords: Maritime Crime Shelf Number: 136162 |
Author: Raoul Wallenberg Institute Title: A Measure of Last Resort? The Current Status of Juvenile Justice in ASEAN Member States Summary: A Measure of Last Resort? The Current Status of Juvenile Justice in ASEAN Member States. Being the first study of its kind, it provides statistical and narrative overviews of the juvenile justice systems in all ASEAN countries. The aim has been to identify issues of common concern across member states, and RWI hopes that it may lead to new initiatives and dialogue that may enhance the protection of children in conflict with the law. The fear of an increasing number of juveniles in conflict with the law in member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) has sparked concerns throughout the region. While this report confirms that crime is on the rise, the number of juveniles brought into formal contact with the criminal justice system remains surprisingly low: we estimate that approximately 70 000 juveniles are formally charged with a criminal offence each year in ASEAN member states. Comparatively, this number is far lower than, for example, the European Union (EU) or USA. Another main finding of the report is that the highest number of juvenile crimes reported is within the category of theft. Robbery and drug related crimes are other crimes high on the statistics. In particular Thailand reports of extremely high percentages of drug related crimes (45.51%). A rough estimate of figures provided shows that around 16 000 children are deprived of their liberty within the ASEAN region. In comparison, statistics from 2012 in the European Union shows that 8700 children in 21 out of the 28 member states were detained in custodial institutions. 3 In 2010 a staggering 70 000 juvenile offenders in USA were in residential placement facilities. It was outside of the scope of the study to report quantitatively on the conditions of juvenile residential institutions. It is, nevertheless, an undeniable fact that many still serve in prisons together with adults, and that there is much room for improvement within rehabilitation centres. This is particularly important for institutions housing juvenile drug users. The country reports indicate that throughout the region, legislative and institutional improvements are being made to secure the rights of children in conflict with the law. All states within the region have recently installed, or are in the process of installing a distinct legislative framework for juvenile justice. This is compatible with the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. Several of the country experts highlight the instrumental role UNICEF and other organisations are playing in the facilitation of improving legislative and institutional frameworks throughout the region. This has clearly strengthened efforts in the establishment of comprehensive child-friendly justice systems. The report reveals, however, that the minimum age of criminal responsibility remains markedly low for international standards. The average in the region is 10.4 years, which is well below the 2009 estimated world median of 12 years. General Comment No. 10 of the Committee on the Rights of the Child states the absolute minimum age for criminal responsibility should be not less than 12 years. A majority of the countries formally include in their laws alternatives to custodial sentences or measures of diversion. However, despite a legal framework in place, diversion is not always used; decision-makers lack adequate knowledge and resources to implement the programmes. Diversion procedures also vary across the region. Some countries alluded to the need for proper facilities and increased staff to encourage diversion programmes and other non-residential options for children in conflict with the law. Another important finding is the diverging uses of traditional restorative justice models within the different ASEAN countries. While some member states leave the mediation process to traditional village based institutions, others maintain a strict governmental control over the diversion process. Whichever procedure is applied, the outcomes are often similar and include reactions typical to restorative justice such as community work or some sort of compensation to the victim. Very few countries in the region have established specialised police and investigation units for children in conflict with the law. If units are present, access to properly trained police and investigators is often limited. This is in line with most country reports emphasising the need to increase training of all duty-bearers for juvenile justice rights. Increased capacity building is required not only for police and investigators but also for prosecutors, judges, parole officers and social workers. Another significant finding is that nearly all researchers have concerns over adequate legal aid for children in conflict with the law. In some states these are practically non-existent while others employ them to a limited degree. Only a few states provide full rights and actual access to free legal aid throughout the proceedings. Details: Lund, Sweden: Raoul Wallenberg Institute, 2015. 214p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 7, 2015 at: http://books.rwi.lu.se/index.php/publications/catalog/view/31/31/208-1 Year: 2015 Country: Asia Keywords: Juvenile Delinquency Shelf Number: 136352 |
Author: AsiaPacific Group on Money Laundering Title: APS Typology Report on Trade Based Money Laundering Summary: 1. Trade Based Money Laundering (TBML) was recognized by the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) in its landmark 2006 study as one of the three main methods by which criminal organizations and terrorist financiers move money for the purpose of disguising its origins and integrating it back into the formal economy. This method of money laundering (ML) is based upon abuse of trade transactions and their financing. The 2006 FATF Study highlighted the increasing attractiveness of TBML as a method for laundering funds, as controls on laundering of funds through misuse of the financial system (both formal and alternate) and through physical movement of cash (cash smuggling) become tighter. 2. In recent years APG members have continued to highlight vulnerabilities for TBML, but very few cases investigations or prosecutions appear to have been undertaken in the Asia/Pacific region and very few case studies had been shared. 3. The APG's TBML study aims to build on the existing studies, in particular those of the FATF, in order to study the extent of the prevalence of TBML and highlight current methods, techniques and modus operandi for TBML as well as to identify 'red flags' to detect and respond to TBML. 4. In determining the magnitude of TBML, the study considered why so few cases of TBML have been detected since the FATF's 2006 study. The Paper has sought to clarify and furnish explanations for terms and processes of 'trade finance' which are comprehensible to Money Laundering (ML) investigators. 5. This Paper has focused on TBML occurring in the course of international trade in goods. The study does not include in its scope capital flight, tax evasion, trade in services and domestic trade. The features of the dynamic environment that distinguish TBML from other forms of ML are its occurrence through intermingling of the trade sector with the trade finance sector in cross- border transactions. The foreign exchange market and the long supply chain make international trade particularly vulnerable to TBML. 6. The study included circulation of a questionnaire to APG and FATF members seeking statistically significant indicators. The Paper sets out a number of Case Studies to illustrate trends of TBML. Simplified explanations of the terms and processes of trade finance have been attempted through interaction with the private sector. A brief review of the literature on the subject generated by the FATF, FSRBs and other authors has been made. 7. There is a growing concern on how the rapid growth in the global economy has made international trade an increasingly attractive avenue to move illicit funds through financial transactions associated with the trade in goods and services. TBML is a complex phenomenon since its constituent elements cut across not only sectoral boundaries but also national borders. The dynamic environment of international trade allows TBML to take multiple forms. Details: Sydney: Asia/Pacific Group on Money Laundering, 2012. 93p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 7, 2015 at: http://www.fatf-gafi.org/media/fatf/documents/reports/Trade_Based_ML_APGReport.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Asia Keywords: Financial Crime Shelf Number: 136353 |
Author: Fulu, E. Title: Why Do Some Men Use Violence Against Women and How Can We Prevent It? Quantitative Findings from the United Nations Multi-country Study on Men and Violence in Asia and the Pacific Summary: How do masculinities relate to men's perceptions and perpetrations of violence against women? What do these gendered norms, identities and practices mean for violence prevention? From 2010 to 2013, over 10,000 men and women across Bangladesh, Cambodia, China, Indonesia, Sri Lanka and Papua New Guinea were interviewed using the UN Multi-country Study on Men and Violence household survey to help answer these questions. The study derives from the Partners for Prevention (P4P) initiative, and focused on intimate partner violence and non-partner rape. The regional analysis found that between 26 and 80 percent of men reported using physical and/or sexual violence against a female partner. The research shows that sexual and gender-based violence is not caused by individual men's beliefs and practices alone, but are situated within wider societal contexts characterised by gender inequalities and power imbalances between men and women, which women also play a role in maintaining. Work to prevent violence against women must reflect this by working at the individual, relationship, community and greater society levels. Recommendations on how the data supports violence prevention initiatives are as follows: - Change social norms related to the acceptability of violence and the subordination of women; - Promote non-violence masculinities oriented towards equality and respect; - Address child abuse and promote healthy families and nurturing, violence-free environments for children; - Work with young boys to address early ages of sexual violence perpetration; - Promote healthy sexuality for men and address male sexual entitlement; - End impunity for men who rape; - Develop interventions that respond to specific patterns of violence in each context. Details: Bangkok: UNDP, UNFPA, UN Women and UNV, 2013. 121p. Source: Accessed August 13, 2015 at: http://www.partners4prevention.org/node/515 Year: 2013 Country: Asia Keywords: Abusive Men Shelf Number: 131395 |
Author: Newland, Kathleen Title: Irregular Maritime Migration in the Bay of Bengal: The Challenges of Protection, Management, and Cooperation Summary: In recent decades, maritime migration in Asia has become increasingly contentious, as refugees and irregular migrants traversing the region by sea complicate the attempts of governments in the Asia-Pacific region to control their borders, regulate immigration, and fulfill their obligations under international law. In the spring of 2015, irregular maritime migration across the Bay of Bengal to Southeast Asia entered a period of crisis as a wave of migrants and refugees crossed or attempted to cross the Bay of Bengal to reach Southeast Asia. The discovery in April and May 2015 of smuggler camps on both sides of the Thailand-Malaysia border showed the critical dangers that attend the journey. At the center of the migration crisis is the exodus of stateless Muslims from western Myanmar (and in some cases, Bangladesh), mingled with Bangladeshi migrants seeking work opportunities in the wealthier countries of the region. Members of the Muslim minority, known as the Rohingya, have suffered extreme poverty and discrimination since the end of British colonial rule and establishment of the modern state of Myanmar. Communal violence between the Rohingya and Buddhists in Myanmar's Rakhine state flared in 2012, resulting in the flight of Rohingya to neighboring Bangladesh, where at least 200,000 remain. Tens of thousands of others embarked on irregular maritime journeys from Bay of Bengal ports in Myanmar and Bangladesh. This MPI-International Organization for Migration (IOM) Issue in Brief attempts to put the crisis of 2015 into context, providing an overview of the routes and patterns of migration, the development of migration out of Myanmar's Rakhine state over the past few years and how policy responses to it have assigned priority to the protection of migrants and refugees, to the management of the maritime flows and to cooperation on migration with countries in the region and beyond. The brief concludes with several recommendations, and a consideration of what recent history has to teach us about responses to maritime migration crises. Details: Bangkok and Washington, DC: International Organization for Migration and Migration Policy Institute, 2015. 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Issue in Brief, Issue No. 13: Accessed August 14, 2015 at: http://www.migrationpolicy.org/research/irregular-maritime-migration-bay-bengal-challenges-protection-management-and-cooperation Year: 2015 Country: Asia Keywords: Border Security Shelf Number: 136406 |
Author: Liberty Asia Title: From every angle: Using the law to combat human trafficking in Southeast Asia Summary: Modern-day slavery takes many forms: human trafficking, forced and bonded labour, sexual exploitation and domestic servitude. The common denominator of all these crimes is the evil intention to strip human beings of their freedom, and then to use, control, abuse and exploit them. Although often hidden, these odious crimes are all too common on fishing boats in Thailand, brothels in Cambodia, behind the closed doors of homes in Hong Kong, or in hotels in Western countries. As part of the wider efforts to combat these hateful crimes, the Thomson Reuters Foundation has teamed up with Liberty Asia and a number of leading law firms, to produce 'From every angle: Using the law to combat human trafficking in Southeast Asia'. Fighting human trafficking through our global pro bono programme TrustLaw is a core focus of the Thomson Reuters Foundation. The report looks at the laws that apply in a range of scenarios: a woman is promised employment as a domestic worker, but receives abuse instead of her pay; a boy moves for a construction job, but is held against his will and denied fair wages; a woman moves country for a job, only to be forced to work in a brothel. While all these scenarios involve trafficking, it is not just trafficking laws that apply. We hope the report will highlight the range of offences that can occur in a trafficking situation, such as assault, sexual violence, employment and immigration law breaches, to enable more prosecutions and combat the culture of impunity for the traffickers and the offenders, whoever they are. The report focuses on seven countries in Southeast Asia. However, trafficking is a global issue. TrustLaw connects lawyers in over 170 countries with NGOs, like Liberty Asia, to provide free legal assistance on pressing global issues or to support their legal needs. Modern day slavery is a big part of our Trust Women Conference - a fast-growing movement to put the rule of law behind women's rights and trigger concrete action. Details: London: Thomson Reuters Foundation, 2014. 269p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 26, 2015 at: http://lawyer-vietnam.com/wp-content/uploads/2015/02/From-every-angle.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Asia Keywords: Forced Labor Shelf Number: 134306 |
Author: Environmental Investigation Agency Title: Organised Chaos: The illicit overland timber trade between Myanmar and China Summary: The conviction and subsequent pardon of 155 Chinese nationals in July for illegal logging in Myanmar threw a spotlight on how massive volumes of timber stolen from the county's precious frontier forests have been flowing unhindered into China for decades. The murky trade is worth hundreds of millions of dollars every year, making it one of the single largest bilateral overland flows of illegal timber in the world. The Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) today releases a new report following extensive undercover investigations into the trade in China and Myanmar, exposing the key actors and systemic corruption which drive and facilitate it. Organised Chaos: The illicit overland timber trade between Myanmar and China documents how in Kachin State all parties profit, from shady Chinese businesses paying in gold bars for the rights to log entire mountains to the official corruption which allows the timber to pass through various checkpoints. Kachin and Yunnan Province in China are at the heart of trade but stolen timber is increasingly being sourced from deeper within Myanmar to feed factories in south and east China. The bulk of the timber moving across the border is now high value species of rosewood and teak. Talks between Myanmar and China are due to take place in Nay Pyi Taw, Myanmar, on September 24 and EIA calls on both countries to take urgent effective action against the massive illicit timber trade. Faith Doherty, EIA Forest Campaign Team Leader, said: "At first glance, this cross-border trade looks to be both chaotic and complex, with most of the stolen timber trafficked through Myanmar's conflict-torn Kachin State, but the reality beneath the apparent anarchy is an intricate and structured supply chain within which different players have defined functions and collude to ensure the logs keep flowing." The trade appeared to have peaked in 2005 when one million cubic metres of logs crossed the border but, following a brief hiatus when Chinese authorities clamped down, the scale is once again nearing peak levels. This trade contravenes Myanmar regulations prohibiting overland export of wood and the country's log export ban introduced in April 2014. At stake are some of the most ecologically important remaining forests in South-East Asia. EIA's evidence shows that as intensive logging exhausts forests in the border area, Chinese-run operations are encroaching deeper into Myanmar. Doherty added: "Both Myanmar and China need to take urgent and effective action to stem the torrent of illicit timber flowing across their joint border or watch conflict, violence and forest destruction continue to escalate." Details: London: EIA, 2015. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 18, 2015 at: https://drive.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/EIA-Organised-Chaos-FINAL-lr1.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Asia Keywords: Forests Shelf Number: 136814 |
Author: Amnesty International Title: Deadly Journeys: The Refugee and Trafficking Crisis in Southeast Asia Summary: In May 2015 three boats carrying 1,800 women, men and children landed in Aceh, Indonesia. Most of the passengers were Muslim Rohingya, a persecuted religious and ethnic minority from Myanmar. All those who arrived had endured weeks or months at sea, in overcrowded boats controlled by ruthless traffickers or abusive people-smugglers. The report includes testimonies from the Rohingya on the shocking conditions and human rights abuses they suffered on the boats for weeks or sometimes months on end, including killings and beatings while they were held hostage for ransom. Details: London: AI, 2015. 41p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 21, 2015 at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/ASA21/2574/2015/en/ Year: 2015 Country: Asia Keywords: Hostages Shelf Number: 137048 |
Author: Bhattacharjya, Manjima Title: The Right(s) Evidence - Sex Work, Violence and HIV in Asia: A Multi-Country Qualitative Study. Summary: Sex workers experience extreme physical, sexual, emotional and economic violence at work, in health care and custodial settings, in their neighbourhoods and in their homes. This violence denies sex workers their fundamental human rights - to equal protection under the law; to protection from torture and from cruel, inhuman and degrading treatment; and to the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health. Research is increasingly demonstrating how violence contributes to the spread of HIV. In Asia, the HIV epidemic remains concentrated among key populations, including sex workers, people who inject drugs, men who have sex with men and transgender people. Realizing the human rights of female, male and transgender sex workers requires an understanding of the intersecting factors that affect their safety and their protection from violence. In 2011, a research partnership among United Nations agencies, governments, sex worker community groups and academics was formed to address gaps in knowledge regarding the links between sex work, violence and HIV in Asia. A multicountry qualitative study, The Rights(s) Evidence: Sex Work, Violence and HIV in Asia (the study), was developed, with research carried out in Indonesia ( Jakarta), Myanmar (Yangon), Nepal (Kathmandu) and Sri Lanka (Colombo). The objective of the study was to better understand female, male and transgender sex workers' experiences of violence, the factors that increase or decrease their vulnerability to violence and how violence relates to risk of HIV transmission. This regional report presents an analysis of the findings from the four country sites. The study comprised a total of 123 peer-to-peer in-depth qualitative interviews with 73 female, 20 male and 30 transgender sex workers aged 18 and older. In addition, 41 key informant interviews were conducted with police personnel, NGO officers, health and legal service providers and national AIDS authorities for insight on contextual information to aid with the analysis and shape the recommendations. Data was collected between 2012 and 2013. The study used a consistent methodology in all country sites to enable an examination of common trends across diverse cultural contexts as well as the experiences unique to sex workers in different settings. In-country ethics approval was obtained in each site. The study adhered to the World Health Organization's Ethical and Safety Recommendations for Research on Domestic Violence Against Women as well as specific considerations related to male and transgender participants in the sex work environment. Participants were recruited using purposive and snowball sampling among self-identified sex workers through community organizations and sex worker networks. Semi-structured, qualitative interviews were conducted by peer interviewers who underwent comprehensive training in each country. The peer interviewers were matched to participants by gender. The interviews were conducted in private settings, in local languages and lasted between one and three hours. Details: Bangkok: UNFPA, UNDP and APNSW (CASAM), 2015. 140p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 26, 2015 at: http://asiapacific.unfpa.org/sites/asiapacific/files/pub-pdf/Rights-Evidence-Report-2015-final_0.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Asia Keywords: Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) Shelf Number: 137145 |
Author: Pai, Aarthi Title: The Right(s) Process: Documenting a Collaborative Research Initiative Summary: This publication documents the lessons learned from the process of implementing a four-country research project on sex work and violence through the narratives and reflections of those who participated in the research since its inception in 2011. The publication was commissioned by the Centre for Advocacy on Stigma and Marginalization (CASAM) in consultation with APNSW, UNDP, UNFPA and P4P (Asia-Pacific regional offices in Bangkok). Funding for the travel to conduct interviews towards this documentation was provided by UNDP. This document chronicles the process behind the multi-country study 'The Right(s) Evidence - Sex Work, Violence and HIV in Asia', from the time of initiating the research in 2011 up to the completion of the regional report in December 2014. Data for the document was collected through interviews with community members who participated in the research, lead researchers, peer lead researchers, the Regional Steering Committee members and members of the four National Working Groups. Participation in this process documentation was voluntary. Care was taken to ensure informed consent from all participants in collecting their views. The purpose of this document was explained in detail and the interviews with sex workers were conducted in the presence of sex worker community leaders from each country or in the presence of the study's researchers. In some cases, the interviews were conducted over email and facilitated by the country researchers and members of the Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers. Details: CASAM, APNSW, UNDP, UNFPA, 2015. 96p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 26, 2015 at: http://www.nswp.org/sites/nswp.org/files/THE%20RIGHTS%20PROCESS.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Asia Keywords: Human Rights Abuses Shelf Number: 137146 |
Author: Global Network of Sex Work Projects Title: Sex Workers Demonstrate Economic and Social Empowerment - Regional Report: Asia and the Pacific Summary: The Global Network of Sex Work Projects (NSWP) received funding from the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs to support the development of advocacy tools around rights-based economic empowerment for sex workers. The first year of this three-year project was coordinated by the Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers (APNSW), whose office is in Bangkok, Thailand. Over the last 20 years, with the catalyst of HIV decimating our ranks, India and Southeast Asia have been home to some of the most progressive sex worker-led networks in the world. We advocate and struggle for self-determination and equal rights in work and life, as documented here. For this project, NSWP worked with APNSW members to: 1. develop background material for advocacy tools that will strengthen regional networks and member organisations' work; campaign for the rights of sex workers of all genders; and amplify the voices of sex workers globally; 2. document good practice examples of sex worker-led economic empowerment projects (described in the case studies) to inform the development of advocacy tools that will help sex worker-led groups' ability to engage effectively with policy makers and programmers; 3. document the lived experiences of sex workers and the impact of programmes that focus on 'rehabilitation', that require sex workers to exit sex work (see the accompanying Briefing Paper). This report focuses in detail on two key good practice studies: the Usha banking cooperative originating in the Sonagachi sex work area of Kolkata, India, and the informal school and community legal services at WNU in Phnom Penh, Cambodia. These are followed by seven other studies (AMA, VAMP, OP SI, Melati Support Group, SWING, Can Do Bar and APN SW) and field research with sex workers and NGO s across the region. Details: Edinburgh: NSWP, 2014. 69p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 28, 2015 at: http://www.nswp.org/sites/nswp.org/files/SUSO%20Asia%20Pacific%20Report_Oct2014.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Asia Keywords: Prostitutes Shelf Number: 137160 |
Author: Asian Development Bank Title: Denying Safe Haven to the Corrupt and the Proceeds of Corruption Summary: International cooperation among law enforcement agencies and prosecutorial authorities is a key in the fight against corruption. Corrupt officials hide and launder bribes and embezzled funds in foreign jurisdictions. Bribers often keep secret slush funds in banks abroad and launder the proceeds of their crimes internationally. Mutual legal assistance and extradition in corruption cases to gather evidence and bring fugitives to justice has become critical. States need to work together to use these tools more effectively. At present, international judicial cooperation is insufficient. This book captures the legal and practical challenges of mutual legal assistance and extradition, as well as solutions for improvement, discussed during a March 2006 training seminar in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Experts from 26 Asia-Pacific countries and countries party to the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention attended this ADB/OECD Anti-Corruption Initiative for Asia and the Pacific seminar on "Enhancing Asia-Pacific Cooperation on Mutual Legal Assistance, Extradition, and the Recovery and Return of the Proceeds of Corruption". Details: Manila: ADB/OECD, 2006. 167p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 16, 2015 at: http://www.oecd.org/site/adboecdanti-corruptioninitiative/37574816.pdf Year: 2006 Country: Asia Keywords: Corruption Shelf Number: 137285 |
Author: Phelps, Jacob Title: A Blooming Trade: Illegal trade of ornamental orchids in mainland Southeast Asia Summary: A thriving and illegal trade in Southeast Asia's threatened and rare orchids is going largely unnoticed in Thailand and across its borders, says a joint study by TRAFFIC and the Center for International Forestry Research (CIFOR). Conservative trade figures documented during the study suggest that tens of thousands of orchids are illegally traded across Thailand's borders every year without either domestic harvest permits or Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) permits, violating range State and international restrictions on wild orchid harvest. Surveys during 2011-2012 in four of the largest wild plant markets in Thailand and at the country's borders with Myanmar and Lao PDR recorded 348 species of orchid for sale, representing 13 to 22 percent of the target countries' known orchid flora. The survey even found species from the genus Paphiopedilum, all of which are listed in Appendix I of CITES, which bans the international trade of wild-collected specimens. At least 16 percent of the orchid species observed could be classified under some category of threat or were species found only in small or specific areas. Several of the orchids first found in the markets were new to science. Details: Selangor, Malaysia: TRAFFIC Southeast Asia Regional Office, 2015. 70p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 28, 2015 at: http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/157301/26694012/1448362157923/A+blooming+trade+Report+_+17th+Nov_FINAL.pdf?token=X1gfjLR63Rn7hCMHSQu4UiRKPhM%3D Year: 2015 Country: Asia Keywords: Endangered Species Shelf Number: 137364 |
Author: Cho, Seo-Young Title: Does Prostitution Constrain Sex Crimes? Micro-Evidence from Korea Summary: This paper investigates empirically whether prostitution reduces sex crimes. Theoretical predictions suggest two contradicting effects: substituting or complementing. By using survey data of sex offenders in Korea, I find that prostitution increases the probability of one committing sex crimes. Also, the experience of buying sex with a minor exacerbates the severity of sex crimes. These results indicate that prostitution intensifies one's propensities for more violent sexual behaviors, suggesting a complementary relationship between prostitution and sex crimes. The main findings do not alter after accounting for the endogeneity of the model. Details: Marburg, Germany: University Marburg, 2015. 40p. Source: Internet Resource: MAGKS DP No. 21-2015: Accessed February 17, 2016 at: http://www.uni-marburg.de/fb02/makro/forschung/magkspapers/paper_2015/21-2015_cho.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Asia Keywords: Prostitution Shelf Number: 137870 |
Author: Malik, Nikita Title: South Asian Militant Groups and Global Jihad in 2015 Summary: This report is designed as a field guide to the most significant militant groups in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and India. It illustrates regional and international trends, and it explains the strategies that have been used by various global jihadist actors at a turning point in South Asian geopolitics. Due to a combination of military operations against them, internal fractionalisation, and the shifting influence of "global jihad", terrorist groups in South Asia are far from structured, cohesive units. As such, Quilliam advocates a new approach in policy. It is now crucial to revisit and re-emphasise the potential for counter-radicalization strategies, as well as mental health policy to reduce the risk of radicalisation. Moreover, we maintain that by coupling civil society initiatives with local, regional, and international policies, the affected Governments will be able to counter these violent ideologies. Based on our findings, Quilliam has developed the following set of counter-terrorism and counter-extremism recommendations: To the International Community: - Make counter-extremism and human rights principles the cornerstone of all related aid that is provided to Pakistan and Afghanistan. - Continue to focus on human rights as a core aim. Strongly insist on greater transparency during counter-terror operations such as Zarb-e-Azb in FATA. If human rights abuses against civilians go unchecked, then defeating one wave of militancy is a temporary victory, as another will be created in the process in response to perceived injustices. - Support grassroots reconciliation efforts and civil society initiatives which offer positive, sensitive, and sustainable forms of post-conflict solutions. - Better engage with Muslim communities in India, Pakistan, Jammu and Kashmir (J&K), and Afghanistan to decrease the appeal of an Islamic caliphate by promoting democratic cultures and addressing grievances to prevent militant ideologies exploiting them. - Help foster stronger micro-finance charity relationships, banking systems, and schemes in South Asia in order to provide conduits to micro-credit for smaller villages and communities that will facilitate economic and social development, and reduce the risks of radicalisation within the relevant communities. The informal 'value transfer' system that is known as the hawala system, tends to thrive when the banking sector is weak. We recommend requirements on hawaladar, such as licensing and registration. - Support economic policies that will reduce income inequality in Afghanistan, India, and Pakistan, and avoid the implementation of financial measures that disproportionately impact the poor in the way that structural adjustment schemes have done so in the past. - Critically review the legal, moral, and military arguments for Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs) in operations over Pakistan and Afghanistan. Associated grievances can be exploited by extremists to radicalize or recruit local populations. Details: London: Quilliam Foundation, 2015. 54p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 10, 2016 at: http://www.quilliamfoundation.org/wp/wp-content/uploads/publications/free/south-asian-militant-groups-and-global-jihad-in-2015.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Asia Keywords: Caliphate Shelf Number: 138176 |
Author: Amnesty International Title: The Ugly Side of the Beautiful Game: Exploitation of Migrant Workers on a Qatar 2022 World Cup Site Summary: Migrant workers on Khalifa International Stadium and the surrounding Aspire Zone, one of the main venues for the 2022 World Cup, have been subjected to a range of exploitative practices. This includes high recruitment fees for which many took out loans; false promises about the pay and type of work on offer; passport confiscation; dirty and cramped accommodation; and threats for complaining about their conditions. Some were subjected to forced labour. The abuses documented in this report are the result of multiple failures: the businesses and organisations responsible for the venue failed to put in place adequate due diligence processes to identify human rights risks linked to their business activities. Several of the companies have improved the accommodation given to migrant workers but have done little to address other concerns such as exploitative recruitment and forced labour. The Supreme Committee, the body responsible for delivering the tournament, has shown a commitment to workers' rights but its Workers' Welfare Standards failed to protect migrant workers on the Khalifa Stadium site. Labour reforms promised by the Qatari authorities have not delivered meaningful improvements, leaving migrant workers vulnerable to abuse. FIFA did not consider human rights before awarding Qatar the World Cup. After selecting Qatar it has done nothing concrete to address the risk of labour and other human rights abuse on World Cup sites. Unless there is fundamental reform of Qatar's sponsorship system and respect for international human rights standards by all actors, the 2022 World Cup risks being built by an exploited workforce. Details: London: AI, 2016. 80p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 1, 2016 at: https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde22/3548/2016/en/ Year: 2016 Country: Asia Keywords: Forced Labor (Qatar) Shelf Number: 138521 |
Author: Yarrow, Elizabeth Title: Getting the Evidence: Asia Child Marriage Initiative Summary: In 2014 and 2015, as part of the Asia Child Marriage Initiative (ACMI), Plan International and Coram International undertook a research study in Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia. The purpose of the ACMI research was to gather in-depth and detailed evidence on the root causes of child marriage practices. It focused on exploring social attitudes, values and norms concerning child marriage, and identifying the structural and environmental factors which influence them. In addition, the research informed the development of an index for measuring environmental factors associated with the acceptability of child marriage which will be used by Plan International to track progress and improve the effectiveness of our child marriage programming globally. The research found rates of child marriage of girls to be high across all three countries, particularly in Bangladesh; rates of marriage of boys were found to be highest in Pakistan. The research found that the number of years a girl spends in education is associated with her age of first marriage; girls who stay in school longer tend to marry later. Furthermore, male sexual violence and control of female sexuality underlie the practice of child marriage, whilst improved access to sexual and reproductive health rights reduces child marriage acceptability. Details: London: Plan International, 2015. 110p. Source: Internet Resource: accessed April 2, 2016 at: https://plan-international.org/getting-evidence-asia-child-marriage-initiative#download-options Year: 2015 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Marriage Shelf Number: 138533 |
Author: International Drug Policy Consortium Title: A Public Health Approach to Drug Use in Asia: Principles and Practices for Decriminalisation Summary: In this report, the International Drug Policy Consortium offers recommendations based on evidence and examples of good practice to inform a shift in policy responses to drug use in Asia away from criminalisation and punishment, and towards public health and harm reduction. It describes effective approaches to the decriminalisation of drug use. It also discusses approaches implemented in Asia that have proven ineffective, such as the detention of people who use drugs in compulsory centres as a form of 'rehabilitation'. The report is intended as a resource for policy makers, legislators, communities of people who use drugs and civil society organisations in Asia. The overall goal of the report is to offer guidance on steps that countries can undertake to develop drug policies that achieve better public health outcomes, by shifting away from the criminalisation and punishment of people who use drugs. It also describes legal and policy responses to drugs that are not effective, such as the detention of people who use drugs in compulsory centres for drug users, forced urine testing, compulsory registration and other punitive measures. Details: London: IDPC, 2016. 54p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 4, 2016 at: https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/64663568/library/Drug-decriminalisation-in-Asia_ENGLISH-FINAL.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Asia Keywords: Drug Abuse and Addiction Shelf Number: 138559 |
Author: Global Witness Title: Lords of Jade: How Southeast Asia's biggest drug lord used shell companies to become a jade kingpin. Summary: Southeast Asia's most notorious narcotics trafficker has become one of the most powerful figures in the country's corrupt, abusive jade business, a new Global Witness report reveals today. Building on Global Witness' explosive recent reporting, Lords of Jade shows how Wei Hsueh Kang controls a range of companies licensed to exploit the Hpakant jade mines in conflict-affected Kachin State. Wei is the architect of a methamphetamine epidemic that has ripped through Southeast Asia, and is the subject of sanctions and a US$2 million bounty from the US government. His network is alleged by business insiders and observers to control Yadanar Yaung Chi, a company that was depositing waste at the tailings dump in Hpakant that collapsed on 21 November, killing over a hundred people. Companies controlled by Wei Hsueh Kang were originally given jade licences by Myanmar's military dictatorship following a ceasefire deal with the United Wa State Army (UWSA), the best equipped of the country's ethnic armed groups, in which Wei has played a leadership role. The US authorities announced indictments and sanctions on Wei's jade business in 2005 and 2008, but it simply shed one corporate skin and grew another. As one analyst of drugs business told Global Witness, "It's a shell game, they just changed the shell". Wei's group have used their connections with the much-feared UWSA to deter scrutiny of their activities. Described by one jade business insider as "a gangster group doing black business", they operate a form of protection racket that exerts control over at least fifty jade mines. Many insiders consider them the most powerful players in Myanmar's staggeringly lucrative jade sector. In the words of one, "If you don't use the Wa name, you cannot operate in Hpakant". The firms at the core of this group collectively posted sales of over US$100 million in jade across two official gems sales events in 2013 and 2014 but are reported to have made far more through smuggling of jade into China. While many of Wei Hsueh Kang's international business connections are believed to be in China and Hong Kong, the front man for the jade companies he controls has a close relationship with American machinery giant Caterpillar Inc., which has invited him on promotional tours of several countries. This reflects both the extent of Wei Hsueh Kang's evasion of US sanctions and the risks that international investors face in Myanmar. In the case of Caterpillar, these risks have been exacerbated by the company's apparent failure to do adequate due diligence on the owners of its dealership in Myanmar. Wei Hsueh Kang's role is a stark reminder of the toxic state of the jade trade, but Myanmar's new government does have options to start addressing it. The Extractive Industries Transparency Initiative (EITI), a global anti-corruption scheme which Myanmar joined in 2014, offers one entry point for tackling the opacity of the jade business, including the specific problem of hidden company ownership. It recommends that companies in the oil gas and mining industries be required to disclose their ultimate 'beneficial' owners and Global Witness is arguing that this provision be applied to jade and other extractive industries as soon as possible. Meanwhile, US sanctions on jade and key players in the business such as Wei Hsueh Kang offer a source of leverage which can be used constructively to reinforce and provide incentives for an agenda for cleaning up the sector. Details: London: Global Witness, 2015. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 6, 2016 at: https://www.globalwitness.org/en/reports/lords-jade/ Year: 2015 Country: Asia Keywords: Drug Trade Shelf Number: 138578 |
Author: Smales, Philippa Title: The New Slave in the Kitchen: Debt Bondage and Women Migrant Domesstic Workers in Asia Summary: Despite the outlawing of slavery in every country for at least 30 years, 'contemporary' forms of slavery are happening in kitchens and households around the world, enabled by 'debt bondage'. Through debt, women are effectively owned by powerful recruitment agencies rather than directly by employers. While the ILO recently recognised domestic work as work, the attention to women domestic workers is needed as they are largely excluded from protection of labour laws. This report is a useful study of domestic workers in the region, and discussion of how governments and other institutions can better deal with this resuming form of slavery. Details: Chiang Mai, Thailand: Asia Pacific Forum on Women, Law and Development (APWLD), 2012. 80p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 13, 2016 at: http://apwld.org/wp-content/uploads/2013/09/New-Slave-in-the-Kitchen-Debt-Bondage.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Asia Keywords: Debt Bondage Shelf Number: 138661 |
Author: Asia Pacific Mission for Migrants Title: Prisoners in a Foreign Land: Migrant Workers in Jail Summary: PRISONERS IN A FOREIGN LAND: Migrant Workers in Jail is an exploration of the vulnerability of migrant workers to imprisonment and detention on the context of existing policies and practices both in the host and sending countries; the condition of migrant workers in jail and in detention centers; and the response of grassroots migrant organizations, various civil society organizations (CSOs), and the governments of sending and receiving countries. Through a study of the human rights concerns of migrants in jail and in detention in major migrant destination countries in Asia-Pacific and the Middle East regions - Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Lebanon, Japan, Malaysia, Taiwan and South Korea - the research shows that human rights of migrants in jail and detention centers are routinely violated. The crisis situation of migrants serves as the context that put them in a condition where their rights are violated even before their deployment overseas and during the period of their employment. While the research focuses on host countries, it also expounds on the response, or the lack thereof, of sending governments to the plight of their nationals in jails and in detention. It also explores the actual experiences of migrant workers organizations and advocates in addressing the concerns of migrants in jail and in detention. To make more concrete the issue tackled by the research, various case studies of migrants who have been or are currently in detention and jail are presented. Through this research, the APMM hopes to shed more light on the conditions of migrants in jail and help in addressing and resolving their concerns. Details: Hong Kong SAR: APMM, 2012. 100p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 14, 2016 at: http://www.apmigrants.org/articles/researches/MIJ%20Research.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Asia Keywords: Human Rights Abuses Shelf Number: 138681 |
Author: Foussard, Cedric Title: Addressing Juvenile Justice Priorities in the Asia-Pacific Region Summary: The International Juvenile Justice Observatory (IJJO) is proud to present the 'Addressing Juvenile Justice Priorities in the Asia-Pacific Region(link is external)' report. The aim of this report is to identify and analyse the priority issues for juvenile justice systems in the Asia-Pacific region. Accordingly, the report deals with the issues of violence against children in the juvenile justice system, restorative justice, cross-border issues and diversionary and alternative measures. It was produced by the IJJO's Asia-Pacific Council for Juvenile Justice, with the support of the Department for Juvenile Observation and Protection of the Ministry of Justice of Thailand. This report is unique in the sense that it is comprised of a theoretical framework, snapshots from countries in the Asia-Pacific region and policy-oriented workshops. Promising practices are presented to give an overview of what can be done, in practice, to improve the development of juvenile justice systems in line with human rights standards. The report outlines the need to improve the juvenile justice system in accordance with human rights standards, including safeguards and policies in this area. The report is based on the Second Meeting of the Asia-Pacific Council for Juvenile Justice held in Phuket in May 2015. Representatives from governments in the Asia-Pacific region, academia, judiciary and NGO's discussed "Policy Recommendations on Violence against Children; Alternatives to Detention; Restorative Justice in the Asia-Pacific Region". The meeting focused on three areas in particular: violence against children, alternatives to detention and restorative justice. Each of these subjects was tackled using a multilayered approach. The first theme that is discussed in the report is violence against children. As children find themselves in particular vulnerable circumstances when they are in contact with the law, children can be easy targets of different types of violence: psychological pressure, abuse of power, degrading treatment and physical violence are only a few examples. This violence often remains invisible, causing it to be unrecorded and unprosecuted. Tackling this issue is a priority for governments and requires specific safeguards and complaint and monitoring mechanisms. The second theme that is addressed in the report concerns diversionary measures and alternatives to detention. Detention is an overused measure to bring children to justice. Custody for children and young people should only be used as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time. Children are extremely vulnerable when they are in detention, so the necessary safeguards must be put in place. Furthermore, effective diversion and alternative measures based in the community facilitate reintegration into society. Governments should make it a priority to implement effective diversion and alternative measures in order to promote the development of the child and to limit the amount of children deprived of their liberty. The last theme that is analysed in the report is restorative justice. Restorative justice can be used as a diversionary or alternative measure. Restorative justice is particularly interesting because it can be used to address the child's specific needs. Furthermore, restorative justice aims to promote reconciliation between the parties, adding a rehabilitative purpose. The last section of the report specifies the priorities of the Asia-Pacific Council for Juvenile Justice in the region. The APCJJ Subcommittee for ASEAN has established that cross-border safeguards for children in contact with the law should be brought to the attention of the member states. As member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations are working towards opening their borders, this issue becomes extremely relevant. The report concludes with some key recommendations on every topic that was addressed. The most important recommendations represented in this report are, in summary: 1.Reducing the number of children in contact with the justice system, for instance, by avoiding criminalization of statutory offences and setting an appropriate age of criminal responsibility, which is an effective way to avoid the risk of secondary victimization within the justice system; 2.Ensuring that deprivation of liberty is only used as a measure of last resort and for the shortest appropriate period of time, by promoting available and effective options of diversion, as well as alternatives to detention; 3.Fostering diversion measures, as it allows to reduce the cost of court proceedings and generally proves to be more responsive to the needs of first time and non-serious offenders; 4.Ensuring that legislation guarantees the recourse to diversion at every stage of the criminal justice proceedings; 5.During restorative processes, both the offender and the victim shall enjoy fair trial guarantees to avoid secondary victimization and ensure fairness of the proceeding. Restorative principles, such as voluntary participation, confidentiality and neutrality of the mediator, should be guaranteed by law; 6.Facilitators shall be offered high quality training, both as a precondition to get in contact with children, as well as throughout their experience in restorative practices; 7.National legislation shall ensure that every child has the right to equal and fair treatment, regardless of their nationality; 8.Legislation shall enshrine the right to privacy of children: any information collected in the course of the proceeding is not to become public, even after the child has reach 18 years of age. Details: Brussels: International Juvenile Justice Observatory (IJJO), 2016. 58p. Source: Internet Resource: accessed April 23, 2016 at: http://www.apcjj.org/sites/default/files/oijj_asia-pacific_council_2016.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Asia Keywords: Alternatives to Incarceration Shelf Number: 138793 |
Author: Davy, Deanna Title: Transnational Advocacy Networks in Campaigning: The Campaign against Child Sex Trafficking in the Mekong Subregion Summary: The rapidly expanding market in enslaved children bought and sold for sex is one of the worst transnational crimes that appear to have been facilitated by globalisation and its many effects, such as growing disparity in wealth between North and South. Child sex trafficking has become one of the most highly publicised social issues of our time and, due to its global nature, transnational anti-trafficking advocacy networks are well placed and central to lead campaigns against it. Transnational advocacy networks (TANs) in the GMS have been integrally involved in the formation of child sex trafficking policy agendas through their involvement in transnational networks and transnational campaigns and in working with governments and the private sector. Cosmopolitan anti-trafficking advocacy in these countries has led to significant progress in the Mekong Subregion by bringing the child trafficking issue onto the global social policy agenda, resulting in new child protection legislation and improved inter-agency collaboration in the region. This PhD research focuses on the politics, processes and effectiveness of transnational anti-trafficking advocacy networks in Thailand and Cambodia. Central questions in this study are addressed. For example, how and why do anti-trafficking advocacy networks evolve? What is the 'glue' that binds network partners and sustains network connections over time? How do networks measure the perceived 'effectiveness' of the networks' advocacy on the problem of child trafficking in the Southeast Asia region? How does North-South collaboration, and contention, and other aspects of network politics contribute to TAN effectiveness? Research into this area is important for improving our understanding of the internal processes, mechanisms and politics and TANs, and the sustainability and effectiveness of anti-trafficking advocacy networks in combating transnational crime and promoting social justice. This research addresses the above questions through an analysis of the politics and typologies of transnational anti child trafficking advocacy networks operating in Thailand and Cambodia. Using a cosmopolitan framework the research analyses data from twenty-two semi-structured interviews with experts from anti-trafficking advocacy networks in the GMS. Details: Sydney: University of Sydney, 2012. 359p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed May 3, 2016 at: http://ses.library.usyd.edu.au/bitstream/2123/8939/1/DAVY%20DEANNA%20PHD%20THESIS.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Human Trafficking Shelf Number: 138900 |
Author: Lisborg, Anders Title: Going Back, Moving On: A synthesis report of the trends and experiences of returned trafficking victims in Thailand and the Philippines Summary: This report examines the experiences and challenges the women faced both overseas and upon their return. It examines the physical and psychological conditions of the women, their concerns and aspirations before leaving and upon return, and the way they coped with reunification with the family. The report suggests ways to improve the quality and effectiveness of reintegration assistance at various levels. Details: Geneva, SWIT: International Labour Organization, 2009. 103p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 4, 2016 at: http://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---asia/---ro-bangkok/---sro-bangkok/documents/publication/wcms_116030.pdf Year: 2009 Country: Asia Keywords: Forced Labor Shelf Number: 138930 |
Author: Balajapalli, Sudha Title: The Impact of the Global Tiger Recovery Program on Wildlife Crime Summary: At the end of the 19th century, there were 100,000 wild tigers (Wikramanayake et al., 2011). Today, there are 3,200-3,600 wild tigers (Seidensticker, 2010). Next to habitat destruction, wildlife crime is the second-largest direct threat to wildlife (WWF, 2015a). The Global Tiger Recovery Program (GTRP) aims to double the current tiger population numbers by 2022. One GTRP goal is to eliminate poaching, illegal trade, and trafficking in wild tigers and their derivatives (GTRP, 2010). The objectives of this study are to test whether strengthening law enforcement efforts through additional funding increased tiger seizures and to explore whether legislative, social, and/or leadership factors increased tiger seizures; Bangladesh and Nepal served as case study countries. A metric used to measure law enforcement efforts was tiger seizures in both countries (Stoner and Pervushina, 2013). Strengthening Regional Cooperation for Wildlife Protection (SRCWP) funding was used to assess funding for tiger protection. Population trends were assessed using tiger survey data in Nepal and tiger abundance index data in Bangladesh. In both countries, the results indicated that there was a possible negative relationship between SRCWP funding and the number of tigers seized. In Bangladesh, there was a possible negative relationship between the tiger abundance index and the number of tigers seized. In Nepal, there was a possible positive relationship between tiger population numbers and the number of tigers seized. There was insufficient information and data to accurately access the relationship between tiger seizures, SRCWP funding, and tiger population trends. Based on the best available information, suggestions were developed to enhance the effectiveness of SRCWP funding and project implementation. Additionally, national wildlife legislation, its integration of CITES, and social and leadership factors were examined to improve tiger protection and strengthen law enforcement in both countries. Details: Fairfax, VA: George Mason University, 2015. 69p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed May 23, 2016 at: http://digilib.gmu.edu/xmlui/bitstream/handle/1920/9930/Balajapalli_thesis_2015.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Year: 2015 Country: Asia Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 139132 |
Author: EY Title: Fraud and corruption -- Driving away talent? Asia-Pacific Fraud Survey 2015 Summary: Given the ongoing war for talent in Asia-Pacific (APAC), our APAC Fraud Survey 2015 reveals a compelling new reason for executives and boards to revisit their fraud, bribery and corruption risk mitigation strategies. To date, the incentives to get compliance right have centered on minimizing financial losses, reducing the management time required to investigate and remediate issues, and preventing the reputational damage caused by corruption. But with a vast majority of our more than 1,500 respondents rating ethical practices as important - and nearly 80% saying they would be unwilling to work for organizations involved in bribery and corruption - there's a new imperative to manage fraud, bribery and corruption risks effectively. Failing to do so could see promising talent avoid working for organizations and cause the best employees to jump ship, leading to higher attrition rates and expensive recruitment campaigns. In markets where it's already difficult to recruit and retain staff, the consequences could be catastrophic. As this survey discusses, to avoid putting their valued talent and growth strategies at risk, APAC companies will need a holistic fraud prevention and detection framework - backed by strong leadership, with up-to-date and well-enforced internal controls, policies and procedures. Organizations also need to improve the way they handle whistleblower hotline complaints, with far fewer respondents willing to use a hotline when compared to our 2013 survey. Our 2015 survey also concludes that the answer to increasing regulatory enforcement and stretched in-house compliance teams lies in leveraging big data through forensic data analytics (FDA), as well as involving the entire C-suite in preparing for a possible cybercrime incident. Details: s.l.: EY, 2015. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 23, 2016 at: http://www.ey.com/Publication/vwLUAssets/ey-apac-fraud-survey-2015/$FILE/ey-apac-fraud-survey-2015.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Asia Keywords: Bribes Shelf Number: 139139 |
Author: ECPAT International Title: Global Study on Sexual Exploitation of Children in Travel and Tourism: Regional Report: Southeast Asia Summary: In 2014, Southeast Asia had the fastest growth in tourism worldwide. SECTT by foreigners was first highlighted here, sparking global efforts to combat the crime. Traditional destinations such as Thailand and the Philippines still attract TCSOs, while Cambodia, Indonesia and Vietnam are becoming key destinations and Myanmar is at risk as it opens up to tourists. While the focus has long been on foreign tourists, male nationals account for the vast majority of offenders. Special Economic and Free Trade Zones in some countries have been identified as locations for SECTT and the region is seeing more webcam-based child sex tourism. No country has a specific plan or designated agency to tackle SECTT. Details: Bangkok, Thailand: ECPAT International, 2016. 96p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 26, 2016 at: http://globalstudysectt.org/category/regional/southeast-asia/ Year: 2016 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Prostitution Shelf Number: 139224 |
Author: Papaioannou, Kostadis J. Title: 'Hunger Makes a Thief of Any Man': Poverty and Crime in British Colonial Asia Summary: This study uses rainfall variation as an instrumental variable for padi-rice production to estimate the impact of poverty on different types of crime across British colonies in South and South East Asia (1910-1940). Using original primary sources retrieved from annual administrative and statistical reports, it provides some of the first evidence in a historical setting on the causal relationship between poverty and crime. Extreme rainfall, both droughts & floods, lead to a large increase in property crimes (such as robbery, petty theft and cattle raiding) but not to an increase in interpersonal violent crimes (such as murder, homicides and assault). In line with a growing body of literature on the climate-economy nexus, we offer evidence that loss of agricultural income is one of the main causal channels leading to property crime. Additional historical information on food shortages, poverty and crime is used to explore the connection in greater detail. Details: Wageningen UR; Utrecht University - Research Group Social Economic History, 2016. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 28, 2016 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2780577 Year: 2016 Country: Asia Keywords: Poverty and Crime Shelf Number: 139519 |
Author: Dorji, Lham Title: Crime and Mental Health Issues among the Young Bhutanese People Summary: The monograph titled 'Crime and Mental Health Issues among Young Bhutanese People' presents the analyses of crime and mental disorder issues among young Bhutanese people. By reorganising and analysing the police crime records and the OPD mental health records of Jigme Dorji Wangchuck National Referral Hospital (JDWNRH), our researchers have tried to shed some light on the nature and extent of crime and mental health issues among young Bhutanese people. It also includes the qualitative study of sampled young prisoners (as the research subjects) to supplement the analysis of the police crime records. Further, they have used the National Health Survey (NHS, 2012) data to explore the mental disorders among young people to supplement the analysis of the clinical records. A short analysis of the interview records of 20 local leaders is included in the monograph. The analysis is based on the local leaders' perceptions of the issues and challenges that young Bhutanese people are facing in their respective communities Details: Thimphu, Bhutan: National Statistics Bureau, 2015. 165p. Source: Internet Resource: Monograph Series No. 8: Accessed June 28, 2016 at: http://www.nsb.gov.bt/nsbweb/publication/files/pub10lr9014qn.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Asia Keywords: Juvenile Inmates Shelf Number: 139522 |
Author: Tournier, marin Title: Countering Illegal Wildlife Trade in Southeast Asia: A critical comparison of the leading strategies and their corresponding initiatives. Summary: This study provides a critical comparison of the leading strategies to mitigate illegal wildlife trade across Southeast Asia, designated in the paper as Enforcement and Awareness initiatives. The purpose of this comparison is to determine the differences and similarities of those initiatives regarding their respective approaches, effectiveness to tackle illegal wildlife trade and influential parameters. In the first part, the paper examines Enforcement and Awareness initiatives based on the initiatives' underlying theories, literature and case studies. It reveals the presence of common characteristics summarised under four thematic points: (1) the complexity, (2) velocity, (3) adaptability and (4) scope of an initiative. In a second stage, the study provides an analysis of the empirical findings collected according to the thematic area previously presented. Evidence for this study was obtained from interviews and observations made in the context of an internship. Thanks to the thematic analysis, the paper approves the presence of specificities and similarities between Enforcement and Awareness initiatives and suggests the consideration of two parameters essential for the success of the initiatives: (1) the governmental authorities' commitment to participate in the conduct of Enforcement or Awareness-related activities and (2) the involvement of non-governmental actors ensuring an efficient conduct. Details: Uppsala, Sweden: Uppsala Universitet, 2015. 60p. Source: Internet Resource: Master thesis in Sustainable Development 234: Accessed July 18, 2016 at: http://uu.diva-portal.org/smash/get/diva2:822507/FULLTEXT01.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Asia Keywords: Illegal Wildlife Trade Shelf Number: 139648 |
Author: Pascoe, Daniel Title: Clemency in Southeast Asian Death Penalty Cases Summary: The five contemporary practitioners of the death penalty in Southeast Asia (Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Singapore and Vietnam) have performed judicial executions on a regular basis between 1975 and 2013. Notwithstanding this similarity, the number of death sentences passed by courts that were subsequently reduced to a term of imprisonment through grants of clemency by the executive has varied remarkably between these jurisdictions. Some of these countries commuted the sentences of death row prisoners often (for example, the clemency 'rate' of 91-92 per cent witnessed in Thailand), others rarely (a clemency 'rate' of around 1 per cent in Singapore), and some at 'medium' rates. In this article, I employ the methodology of comparative criminal justice to explore the discrepancies and similarities in capital clemency practice between these five Southeast Asian jurisdictions. In doing so, I seek to identify the structural and cultural reasons why retentionist countries exercise clemency at vastly different 'rates' in finalised capital cases. Details: Melbourne: Centre for Indonesian Law Islam and Society, 2014. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: CILIS Policy Paper series no. 4: Accessed July 18, 2016 at: http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2459414 Year: 2014 Country: Asia Keywords: Capital Punishment Shelf Number: 139654 |
Author: Gomez, Lalita Title: Illegal Otter Trade: Summary: Although numbers are small, in Southeast Asian countries the quantities of live otters seized increased in the last four years (2011-2014) to average six individuals per seizure compared to three to four previously. A maximum of 16 live otters were seized in 2013. The study reveals a rise in the number of otter skin seizure cases over the years, but a decrease in the quantities being seized: from two to three cases a year averaging 50 individuals per seizure, to 8 seizures a year of about 30 individuals each. More cases could mean an improvement in enforcement efforts, but the lower quantities seen in those seizures implied a decline in otter populations. The authors also reported that illegal trade records involving otters were scarce and that the trade was likely to be much larger than official seizure data alone suggested. This, together with a lack of population information, legal loopholes that enable trafficking and the low priority given to otter trade, forms a large gap in information on the impacts of illegal trade on the region's wild otter populations. Details: Selangor, Malaysia: TRAFFIC, Southeast Asia Regional Office, 2016. 44p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 20, 2016 at: http://www.traffic.org/home/2016/7/5/otters-in-asia-at-risk-from-demand-for-their-skins-and-incre.html Year: 2016 Country: Asia Keywords: Illegal Wildlife Trade Shelf Number: 139722 |
Author: Asia Foundation Title: Understanding Violence against Women and Children in Timor-Leste: Findings from the Nabilan Baseline Study. Main Report Summary: This research contributes ground-breaking knowledge on violence against women in Timor-Leste, and directly addresses the gap in reliable, representative quantitative data on women's experiences and men's perpetration of violence. The significant work that national civil society organizations, key government stakeholders, academics, international non-governmental organizations and United Nations agencies have conducted in Timor-Leste illustrates that women in this country routinely suffer multiple dimensions of violence. The Nabilan Health and Life Experiences Baseline Study adds new insights into this issue and into the immense implications of violence on women's health and wellbeing, as well as that of their children, their families and their communities. This research also reveals, for the first time, information on men's use of violence against women - information which is crucial for programs working with men and boys to prevent violence. In addition, through an analysis of statistically significant risk and protective factors for violence against women, the Study provides tangible and evidence-based recommendations for the approaches that will be most effective in preventing violence against women in Timor-Leste. One such risk factor that must urgently be addressed, for example, is child abuse - the rates of which, as this research shows, are extremely high. While the rates of violence in this study are considerably higher than the 2009-2010 Demographic Health Survey, this should not be interpreted as indicative of a major rise in the rates for Timor-Leste, rather that the rates are actually higher than previous estimates. The Study findings unequivocally illustrate that violence against women is a critical development issue for Timor-Leste. Without breaking the cycle of violence, which includes the normalization of physical, sexual and intellectual abuse of women, Timor-Leste will not be able to advance as a modern, liberal, thriving democracy with a healthy population. Through its struggles for independence and journey to nationhood, Timor-Leste has shown itself to be a nation of great resolve and strategic thinking. This matter of violence against women and children must be seen in the same light, and it will have far reaching implications not just for women and children, but for the nation as a whole, both domestically and internationally. Details: Dili, Timor-Leste: The Asian Foundation, 2016. 352p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 23, 2016 at: http://asiafoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/05/nabilan-main-report-screen-2016-06-01.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Abuse and Neglect Shelf Number: 139799 |
Author: Human Rights Watch Title: "I Was Sold": Abuse and Exploitation of Migrant Domestic Workers in Oman Summary: More than 130,000 migrant women work in households in Oman. Most come from the Philippines, Indonesia, India, Sri Lanka, Nepal, Bangladesh, and Ethiopia. They cook, clean, and care for children and the elderly. While some earn decent salaries and work in good conditions, others find themselves trapped in abusive situations, their plight hidden behind closed doors. Based on interviews with 59 female domestic workers, lawyers, embassy officials, and others, "I Was Sold": Abuse and Exploitation of Migrant Domestic Workers in Oman documents how Oman's laws and policies fail to provide for migrant domestic workers' rights or safety and enable employers to retaliate against workers who flee abuse. Domestic workers described a wide range of abuses, such as employers confiscating their passports, not paying their full salaries, forcing them to work excessive hours without breaks or days off, or denying them adequate food and living conditions. Some said their employers physically abused them; a few described sexual abuse. In some cases, workers described abuses amounting to forced labor or trafficking. In the face of these abuses, migrant domestic workers have little recourse. Like its Gulf neighbors, Oman maintains an immigrant labor system (known as kafala) that punishes workers who leave their employers or change jobs without their employers' consent. In addition, the country's labor law excludes domestic workers from its protections. Human Rights Watch calls on Oman to reform these laws and policies in order to afford all migrant domestic workers protections in line with international standards. The government should also thoroughly investigate abuses against domestic workers and prosecute those responsible. Details: New York: HRW, 2016. 84p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 25, 2016 at: https://www.hrw.org/sites/default/files/report_pdf/oman0716web.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Asia Keywords: Domestic Workers (Oman) Shelf Number: 139839 |
Author: IOSEA Marine Turtle MoU Secretariat Title: Illegal Take and Trade of Marine Turtles in the IOSEA Region Summary: Illegal take of marine turtles can assume various forms, from poaching of animals and eggs on nesting beaches to illegal take of animals at sea. Typically, green and leatherback turtles are hunted for their meat; the hawksbill turtle is hunted for its carapace as the raw material for craftwork; while the eggs of loggerhead and olive ridley turtles are considered a delicacy. Turtle meat consumption reportedly occurs in 75% of IOSEA Signatory States, while trade in shell products seems to be predominant in East Asian countries. Whereas numerous investigations in this regard have been undertaken over the past decade in various SEA+ countries, no studies of comparable nature/scope in the other IOSEA sub-regions were found. Details: Bangkok, Thailand: IOSEA, 2014. 57p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 29, 2016 at: http://www.cms.int/sites/default/files/publication/MT_IO7_DOC10-1_Illegal_Take%26Trade-final.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Asia Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 140066 |
Author: Asia Catalyst Title: "My Life Is Too Dark To See the Light": A Survey of the Living Conditions of Transgender Female Sex Workers in Beijing and Shanghai Summary: Based on research in Beijing and Shanghai, China this report focuses on the daily life, working conditions, access to services, and legal frameworks for transgender female sex workers in China. Transgender female sex workers face a broad array of discrimination in social and policy frameworks, preventing this highly marginalized group's access to a wide spectrum of services and legal protections. They experience amplified stigma due to both their gender identity and their profession. Isolated and often humiliated when seeking public services, particularly in health care settings, has also led many to self-medicate and engage in dangerous transitioning practices, including on self-administered hormone use. In China, transgender people do not necessarily face outright legal penalties, but the absence of nondiscrimination laws and lack of enforcement of overarching policies on non-discriminatory access to healthcare and HIV related services, means they are left without effective protection. As sex work is illegal in China, transgender sex workers are further oppressed by the police and, due to social and other factors, engage in high risk activities that put them at increased risk of HIV and STD infection. The research for this report illuminates that the community of female presenting sex workers is very complex and includes men who have sex with men, transgender individuals, and transsexuals. Their vulnerabilities to HIV and their varied health needs need to be carefully assessed, strategically targeted, and addressed. As China is in the process of drafting a new HIV/AIDS action plan for 2016-2020, now is a good opportunity to develop a specific strategy on HIV prevention and care for the transgender community. Details: New York: Asia Catalyst, 2015. 79p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 13, 2016 at: http://asiacatalyst.org/wp-content/uploads/2014/09/Asia-Catalyst-TG-SW-Report.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Asia Keywords: Prostitutes Shelf Number: 140271 |
Author: ECPAT International Title: Global Study on Sexual Exploitation of Children in Travel and Tourism. Regional Report South Asia Summary: More children than ever are at risk of being sexually exploited by travellers and tourists and no country is immune. Since the early 1990s when evidence came to light that European nationals were sexually abusing and exploiting children in developing countries, sharp increases in travel and tourism have multiplied the opportunities and venues available to travelling child sex offenders worldwide. An emerging destination for international tourists, South Asia recorded an impressive seven percent growth in the arrival of foreign visitors in 2014. Moreover, domestic travel has steadily increased within the region, thanks to a flourishing middle class. Hence, tourism is now a major source of income for many South Asian countries. The increased travel and the explosion of the internet and mobile technology has afforded perpetrators anonymity and hidden pathways to groom children and seduce them via social media and internet games. Likewise, new travel and tourism services like home-stays, voluntourism and the shareconomy have increased this anonymity and heightened children's vulnerability. However, progress has been made since the First World Congress against Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children held in Stockholm in 1996. Twenty years later, world leaders from nearly every country in the world have approved global targets to address the sexual exploitation of children in the Sustainable Development Goals, which replace the Millennium Development Goals from 2016 onwards. Thus, goal 16 of the SDGs, namely to "promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels", is notably to be reached by "ending abuse, exploitation, trafficking and all forms of violence and torture of children" as stated in Target 16.2. The world has recognised that we cannot allow children to fall victim to this devastating experience, which has life-long consequences on their mental and physical well-being. This report provides an updated picture of the environment in which sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism persists in South Asia and proposes a set of recommendations to improve government, non-government and private sector responses to prevent and combat this crime. As such, it will assist in the realisation of the Sustainable Development Goals related to children's right to live free from sexual exploitation. After twenty five years of working on the issue, ECPAT cannot emphasise enough how important it is to join efforts and take advantage of multi-sector cooperation to fight this deplorable trend. This report is an open invitation to work with ECPAT and its partners and join the fight against sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism because together we can eliminate this crime and make childhood safe again. Details: Bangkok: ECPAT International, 2016. 80p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 14, 2016 at: http://globalstudysectt.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/06/Regional-Report-South-Asia.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Prostitution Shelf Number: 139960 |
Author: Forest Trends Title: Combating Illegal Logging in Asia: A Review of Progress and the Role of the Asia Forest Partnership 2002-2012 Summary: Forests in Asia play a critical role in providing a variety of services that millions of people depend upon for their livelihoods and social stability. They also contain most of the Asia-Pacific region's terrestrial biodiversity. By the turn of the Millennium, the forests of the region, particularly in the tropics, were acknowledged to be in crisis. Deforestation and forest degradation were rising to unprecedented rates, often as a direct result of illegal activities. There was also a dawning recognition that illegal logging was not only an environment threat, but was also contributing to conflict, corruption, and disrespect for the rule of law. It was against this backdrop that the Asia Forest Partnership (AFP) was established in 2002 at the Johannesburg World Summit on Sustainable Development (WSSD). AFP was established as a multi-stakeholder alliance to promote sustainable management of forests in the Asia-Pacific region. In practice, AFP's greatest strength turned out to be promoting dialogue and cooperation to combat illegal logging, and that is the topic upon which the Partnership largely focused. A decade of regional dialogues and other activities followed, drawing in thousands of participants, catalyzing countless partnerships on the ground, and making a significant contribution to changing the nature of dialogue and action on illegal logging. When AFP first began, governments, logging companies and environmental activists rarely sat down at one table for frank discussions on the illegal logging problem. Today, such dialogue is the norm and is a regular feature of meetings of hitherto government-only bodies such as the International Tropical Timber Organization (ITTO), the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation forum (APEC), and the FAO Asia-Pacific Forestry Commission. Ten years ago, illegal logging was often characterized as a domestic law enforcement problem that was the responsibility of those countries to deal with, while those countries, companies, and consumers who processed timber and ultimately bought forest products, looked the other way with respect to the legality of the raw material. Today, consumer markets like the United States, the European Union, and Australia all have timber legality legislation in place, Indonesia has implemented its own Timber Legality Assurance System, and countries with major timber-processing and export industries, such as China and Vietnam, are working to put their own legality verification systems in place. At AFP's outset, environmental non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were very active in alerting the world to the extent and impacts of illegal logging, but had not found productive ways to engage with timber companies to change their management and trade practices. During the course of the ensuing decade, NGO-backed programs like the Global Forest and Trade Network (GFTN), the Responsible Asia Forestry and Trade initiative (RAFT), and the Forest Legality Alliance (FLA) have developed extensive cooperative programs with timber producers, processors, and consumers and have also played an important role in devising and disseminating practical tools to encourage legal trade in forest products. AFP cannot, of course, take sole credit for these considerable positive achievements of the past decade. AFP has, however, played an important and catalytic role. Perhaps most importantly, the multi-stakeholder approach to illegal logging that AFP pioneered has now become the "new normal" in addressing illegal logging throughout the region. This multi-stakeholder approach is now accepted and institutionalized in formal intergovernmental organizations like APEC and ITTO, trade arrangements like the EU Voluntary Partnership Agreements, and in various best practice codes of conduct adopted by the private sector. As the AFP now draws to a close, those that helped establish it and those who have been active members of the partnership have much to be proud of. The AFP set a standard from which other initiatives and partnerships can learn in the future. Details: Washington, DC: Forest Trends, 2013. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 17, 2016 at: http://www.forest-trends.org/documents/files/doc_3529.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Asia Keywords: Deforestation Shelf Number: 140341 |
Author: Greenpeace Title: How Unilever Palm Oil Suppliers Are Burning Up Borneo Summary: In November 2007, Greenpeace released 'Cooking the Climate', an 82-page report summarising the findings of a two-year investigation that revealed how the world's largest food, cosmetic and biofuel companies were driving the wholesale destruction of Indonesia's rainforests and peatlands through growing palm oil consumption.This follow-up report provides further evidence of the expansion of the palm oil sector in Indonesia into remaining rainforests, orangutan habitat and peatlands in Kalimantan. It links the majority of the largest producers in Indonesia to Unilever, probably the largest palm oil corporate consumer in the world. Details: Amsterdam: Greenpeace, 2008. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 23, 2016 at: http://www.greenpeace.org/international/Global/international/planet-2/report/2009/10/how-unilever-palm-oil-supplier.pdf Year: 2008 Country: Asia Keywords: Deforestation Shelf Number: 146050 |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Title: Transnational Organized Crime in the Pacific: A Threat Assessment Summary: This report presents major threats posed by transnational organized crime in the Pacific region, mainly focusing on the Pacific Island Countries and Territories (PICTs). Based on consultations with the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat (PIFS) and information obtained from desk reviews conducted by UNODC, this report focuses on four major types of transnational organized crime affecting the Pacific region: - Drug and precursor trafficking; - Trafficking in persons & smuggling of migrants; - Environmental crimes (fishery crime and other wildlife trafficking & illegal logging and timber trafficking); and - Small arms trafficking. In addition to the major four types of transnational crime, the report also includes some information on the trafficking of counterfeit goods, including fraudulent medicines, and cybercrime to shed light on emerging threats in the region. The four major illicit flows discussed in the report are different sorts of illicit activities, yet they all pose immense challenges to the region. There are strong indications that the PICTs are increasingly targeted by transnational organized crime groups due to their susceptibility to illicit flows driven by several factors. These include (a) the geographical location of the PICTs situated between major sources and destinations of illicit commodities; (b) extensive and porous jurisdictional boundaries; and (c) differences in governance and heterogeneity in general law enforcement capacity across numerous PICTs and the region in general. These complexities also underscore the inherent difficulties in detecting, monitoring, preventing and responding to transnational organized crimes in the region. In this context, transnational criminal activities continue to increase throughout the Pacific and have detrimental impacts on communities, sustainable economic development and regional security. At a regional level and across all transnational organized crime types discussed in this report, a fundamental problem is the significant gaps in data and information related to transnational crime among the PICTs. This is a major hindrance in developing effective and evidence-based responses to transnational organized crime. Details: Bangkok: UNODC, 2016. 130p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 30, 2016 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/southeastasiaandpacific/Publications/2016/2016.09.16_TOCTA_Pacific_web.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Asia Keywords: Counterfeit Goods Shelf Number: 140518 |
Author: Stoner, Sarah Title: Briefing Document: Reduced to skin and bones re-examined : An analysis of Tiger seizures from 13 range countries from 2000-2015. Summary: Illegal trade and the trafficking of Tiger Panthera tigris, as well as their parts, products and derivatives, and the poaching which supplies it, is the most immediate threat to the survival of wild Tigers. A new minimum estimate of the number of Tigers that now exist in the wild of over 3890 was released by WWF in April 2016. Much of this change stems from the release of new national surveys results in a number of Tiger range countries (TRCs), many of which employed more rigorous methods of sampling compared to previous surveys efforts (WWF, 2016). Studies also indicate that the known Tiger range has declined by 42% between 2006 and 2014, attributed to actual range decline and a reflection of better data collection methods and increase in Tiger surveys (Goodrich et al, 2015). Current knowledge on the range and number of wild Tigers has improved, yet poaching and illegal trade shows no signs of abating. Additionally, the role of captive Tiger facilities has become more relevant in recent years. In 2010 and 2013, TRAFFIC produced two systematic reports analysing Tiger seizures from range countries that described trafficking patterns (Verheij et al., 2010; Stoner and Pervushina, 2013). This 2016 report presents an updated situational analysis, assessing information over a 16-year period from January 2000 to December 2015 for all Tiger range countries (TRCs), using a combination of data acquired from governments and open source media reports. During May-June 2016, TRAFFIC, with the assistance of the Global Tiger Forum (GTF), formally requested seizure data (for incidents occurring between January 2012 and 2016) from the government departments responsible for gathering illegal wildlife seizure data within each TRC. Only government data from Bangladesh and Malaysia was supplied, and India pointed TRAFFIC to source required information from Tigernet. The governments of Bhutan, India, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Thailand supplied data previously to TRAFFIC to service Tiger trade analysis for previous reporting periods (Verheij et al, 2010, Stoner and Pervushina, 2013). However, the majority of this dataset comprises Tiger seizures held within TRAFFIC's database that are reported within the media or from openly available sources, such as Tigernet in India. Any duplicate incidents were removed. Data parameters did not consider seizures that have taken place outside the 13 TRCs (including, for example: seizures that originated from or are destined for any TRC). Data have been analysed to show overall trends for the full 16 years as well as a closer examination of changes over time across four quarterly periods: 2000-2003 (Q1), 2004-2007 (Q2), 2008-2011 (Q3) and 2012-2015 (Q4). TRAFFIC is preparing a full report of this analysis, which aims to illustrate findings on the trade in Tigers at a global level, while also describing trends in each TRC through country profiles, describing key considerations at a country-specific level (Stoner et al., in prep). This Briefing Document highlights top-line findings from the detailed analysis over the 16 years, including key occurrences and patterns over the period assessed. Key recommendations are provided for consideration by actors at national, regional and international levels. Details: Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia: TRAFFIC, Southeast Asia Regional Office, 2016. 31p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 7, 2016 at: http://awsassets.panda.org/downloads/reduced_to_skin_and_bones.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Asia Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 147818 |
Author: Gomez, Lalita Title: Observations of the illegal pangolin trade in Lao PDR Summary: Pangolins are the most heavily trafficked mammal in the world. All eight extant pangolin species are currently listed in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES), prohibiting any uncertified international trade. In addition, a zero quota for CITES exports of all four Asian species was established in 2000. Despite these measures, pangolins continue to be threatened by increasing levels of illegal wildlife trade. Lao People's Democratic Republic (Lao PDR) is known to play an important role in the international wildlife trade and is a range country for two pangolin species, Sunda Pangolin Manis javanica, and Chinese Pangolin M. pentadacytla. Its wildlife laws currently fail to protect non-native pangolin species and do not meet the requirements for the effective implementation of CITES. In addition to having weak legislation, Lao PDR is strategically located next to China, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam and forms an important transit hub for these countries, which all have an active wildlife trade profile for aspects of supply, transit and end-use demand. This report explores Lao PDR's role in the illegal pangolin trade and discusses the findings of two market surveys, conducted in several locations as well as the outcomes of an analysis of pangolin seizures that involved Lao PDR as either an origin, transit, seizure or destination country between 2010 and 2015. Opportunistic market surveys were conducted between April 2016 and July 2016 within seven cities in the northern regions of Lao PDR. An estimated total of 2734 pangolin scales were found in 13 shops at these different locations. The largest quantity of scales was observed in Luang Prabang, with an estimated 1200 scales found in two shops. Prices for pangolin scales ranged from USD1/ (small) piece to USD1/gram, with large scales sometimes weighing as much as 20 grams. Lao PDR's pangolin trade appeared to be mainly focused on a Chinese clientele in the areas surveyed. Shop owners and employees were predominantly of Chinese ethnicity and prices were often given in Chinese Yuan (CNY). In Luang Prabang and Vientiane, pangolin products were mostly found in popular tourist spots, alongside other illegal wildlife products such as elephant ivory and rhino horn. Forty-three reported pangolin seizures involving Lao PDR were recorded between 2010 and 2015, involving an estimated 5678 pangolins. Most of these seizures involved shipments being smuggled into the country from Thailand and out to China and/or Viet Nam. In five incidents shipments were confirmed to originate from Africa, confirming the increasing occurrence of African-sourced pangolin trade which complements and substitutes supply from the four declining Asian species. The large discrepancy between observed local trade and the seizure records confirms Lao PDR's role as a transit country in the international pangolin trade. Improved control of Lao PDR's pangolin trade will be an essential step in reducing the global pangolin trade. In order to achieve this, TRAFFIC recommends the following: CITES and national legislation - Proposals to list all eight pangolin species in Appendix I of CITES should be supported at CoP17 (i.e. Proposals 8 and 12) as this places an overall higher degree of international protection, and will enhance efforts to safeguard pangolins and support regulatory control mechanisms by non-range States. - National legislation requires urgent improvement to enable effective law enforcement, which is currently ineffectual due to weaknesses in the law that prevent arrests, prosecutions and convictions. Currently considered a Category 3 country by the CITES National Legislation Project, meaning that its "legislation (...) is believed generally not to meet the requirements for the implementation of CITES", Lao PDR needs to amend its national wildlife laws to incorporate CITES implementing legislation, including legislation protecting all species of pangolins not native to the country and providing for stricter deterrents / penalties for serious wildliferelated offences, especially when perpetrated through organized groups, transnationally and repetitively. Law Enforcement - Law enforcement capacity should be enhanced to improve proactive investigation into international wildlife crime in general and the pangolin trade in particular. Multi-agency collaboration, both at national and international levels, should be enhanced to tackle the international and organized criminal networks involved in smuggling pangolins across Lao PDR's borders. This should include members of Lao PDR Wildlife Enforcement Network (WEN), notably the environmental police, Customs, the Department of Forest Inspections (DOFI), prosecutors and judges, to investigate mid-high profile cases that involve organized and transboundary activities. - Increased surveillance of trade in Special Economic Zones (SEZ) and in the other trade "hotspots" identified in this report is also needed. - Increased prosecution rates including more severe penalties should be realized in order to deter potential wildlife criminals. - Lao PDR should aim to improve its reporting to the CITES Secretariat as per the new annual illegal trade reporting requirements i.e. CITES Notification 007 that was issued in February 2016. Seizure reports, including comprehensive accounts of actions and outcomes, specifics of seizure and prosecution details are imperative to the analysis of the country's wildlife trade levels and trends, and, eventually, a better understanding of the international illegal wildlife trade. - Better co-operation and co-ordination between the Customs agencies of Lao PDR and Thailand is required in order to increase detection rates along the Lao-Thai border (which has proven to be a crucial transit point in the international pangolin trade). - Better co-operation and co-ordination is also needed between Lao PDR and China and Viet Nam, which should include extra vigilance concerning exports from Lao PDR to these two countries. - In the case of Chinese citizens caught smuggling wildlife products from Lao PDR into China, or involved in illegal purchase, sale or transport of protected species in Lao PDR, moving seizures and apprehension of suspects to prosecution (in both Lao PDR and China) would help increase deterrents to illegal wildlife trade. Future Research - Continued research into Lao PDR's role in the international illegal wildlife trade in general, and the pangolin trade in particular, is needed in order to obtain a current and improved understanding of the trade levels and dynamics in this crucial transit hub. Such research should include seizure analyses and market monitoring, especially in SEZs. - Beyond Lao PDR, additional research into the global pangolin trade will help guide law enforcement efforts, with the goal of improving the effectiveness of interventions. Such research should include: 1) continued research into the Asian pangolin trade, including seizure and trade route analyses, and drivers of demand; 2) increased research into the trade of African pangolin species to Asia, including seizure and trade route analyses, and drivers of demand. Details: Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia: TRAFFIC, Southeast Asia Regional Office, 2016. 31p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 7, 2016 at: http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/157301/27258781/1474607479773/Pangolin-trade-Lao-PDR.pdf?token=Q0LsZOB5mA8Ov0Pk57W25nPfOSk%3D Year: 2016 Country: Asia Keywords: Endangered Species Shelf Number: 147817 |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) Title: Smuggling of Migrants: A risk assessment of border communities: Cambodia, Lao PDR and Thailand Summary: Southeast Asia continues to experience rapid economic and social development. In the Greater Mekong Sub-Region (GMS), economic development in Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, and Thailand is progressing at different paces. The resulting economic disparity between these countries is a driving force for both regular and irregular labor migration to Thailand. Since regular labor migration channels and opportunities are not sufficient to match the demand for unskilled or low-skilled migrant workers in Thailand, irregular migration continues to flourish. In this context, migrant smuggling - the procurement of illegal entry of a person into a State of which the person is not a national for a financial or other material benefit - accounts for much of the irregular migration in the GMS. Driven by supply and demand, illegal flows of goods and people tend to be more prevalent in specific border areas, which become core hubs for organizing illegal border transportation and crossing. This makes the underdeveloped border communities of these GMS countries susceptible targets for organized criminal groups that seek to generate profits from transporting and facilitating illegal entry for migrants. The objectives of this study are to determine key motivators and facilitators of irregular migration, explore the concept of Border Community Committees and their potential effectiveness in reducing the smuggling of migrants, evaluate existing mechanisms for combating irregular migration, and assess the role of law enforcement officials in preventing and prosecuting migrant smuggling and irregular migration practices. Details: Bangkok: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime, Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific, 2014. 28p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 12, 2016 at: https://www.unodc.org/documents/southeastasiaandpacific/2014/08/patrol/Final_Report_SOM_in_Border_Communities_11_25_Aug_2014.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Asia Keywords: Border Security Shelf Number: 146667 |
Author: Wu, Joyce Title: Shark Fin and Mobulid Ray Gill Plate Trade -- In mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan. Summary: Despite shark fin being a "traditional" Chinese product, the trade and marketing of it (and to a lesser extent manta gill plates) changes rapidly depending on where and how profits can be made. Almost every aspect that the research has looked at is dynamic in a way that would have been difficult to predict from the first study (Clarke 2004) ten years or so ago. Mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan have had a long and varied history in the trade of shark fins. Together they account for more than 90% and 70% of the global import and (re)export, respectively, between 2005 and 2011, based on FAO import data1. Recent declines in the global trade have also been reflected in the import and (re)export2 of shark fin from these three countries and territories. However, possible illegal shark fin trade could indicate that the trade decline of mainland China, Hong Kong and Taiwan may not be as substantial as the official data have recorded. Given the lack of knowledge about the scale of under-reporting in mainland China, it is possible that the extent of the decline may be much lower than available data suggest. This report takes a comprehensive look at how the shark fin trade is changing in the three study areas, and provides recommendations to stakeholders to improve compliance with the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) and increase traceability of the trade in shark fins and mobulid ray gill plates. Details: Cambridge, UK: TRAFFIC, 2016. 94p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 16, 2016 at: http://www.traffic.org/home/2016/11/8/fins-follow-the-money-new-study-highlights-need-for-better-t.html Year: 2016 Country: Asia Keywords: Endangered Species Shelf Number: 141176 |
Author: Stoner, Sarah Title: Reduced to Skin and Bones Re-examined: Full Analysis. An analysis of Tiger seizures from 13 range countries from 2000-2015 Summary: Illegal trade and the trafficking of Tiger Panthera tigris, as well as their parts, products and derivatives, and the poaching which supplies it, is the most immediate threat to the survival of wild Tigers. In April 2016, the WWF released a new minimum estimate of over 3 890 Tigers Panthera tigris in the wild. This figure is based on national Tiger surveys which employed more rigorous methods of sampling compared to previous surveys, as well as estimations at a national level. The information also shows that the known Tiger range has declined by 42% between 2006 and 2014, attributed to actual decline in Tigers as well as a reflection of better data collection methods and increase in Tiger survey efforts. While current knowledge on the range and number of Tigers has improved, the most immediate threat to the survival of wild Tigers persists. This is the continued persistence of illegal trade and trafficking in Tiger parts, products and derivatives, and the poaching which supplies this trade. Demand also shows no signs of abating, and the role of captive Tiger facilities has become a highly relevant factor. In 2010 and 2013, TRAFFIC produced two systematic reports analysing Tiger seizures from 11 and 12 Tiger range countries (TRCs) respectively, which described the trafficking patterns. This current report presents an updated situational analysis which, assesses seizure information over a 16-year period from January 2000 to December 2015 for all 13 TRCs, using a combination of government acquired data and open source media reports. The data was analysed for overall trends for the full 16 years as well as for four quarterly periods during this duration: 2000-2003 (Q1), 2004- 2007 (Q2), 2008-2011 (Q3) and 2012-2015 (Q4). The objective of this report is to summarize the current trade dynamics for Tigers at a global level, in addition to assessing trade characteristics for each country with selected key considerations at a country-specific level. Practical recommendations are also provided for the consideration of the TRCs, stakeholders and -other actors at international, regional and national levels. Over the 16-year period between 2000 and 2015, a total of 801 Tiger seizures were reported across the 13 Tiger range countries, equivalent to an estimated minimum of 1 755 Tigers seized. On average, 50 seizures were reported annually, equivalent to a minimum of 110 Tigers. Compared to TRAFFIC’s previous analysis in 2013 where 654 seizures were recorded from 2000-2012, representing 1 425 Tigers seized, the 2016 data shows an increase of 147 Tigers, which reflects an additional 330 Tigers seized. It needs to be mentioned that some of this increase can be ascribed to the inclusion of data from more countries in the 2012 and 2015 analyses. For example, Cambodia did not previously report seizure incidents for the year 2000, and therefore did not feature in TRAFFIC’s analysis in 2010 or 2013. While China, Indonesia and Thailand were observed to be the top three countries that demonstrated a consistent increase in seizures in each four-year period quarter of the 2000 to 2015 timeframe, only Indonesia and Thailand show an increasing number of Tigers seized each quarter. For instance, Thailand seized 166 Tigers from 2012-2015, compared to the 64 Tigers seized from 2008-2011; it must be noted that the seizure of 102 Tigers from the Tiger temple in 2015 is the reason behind this increase. Indeed, this analysis highlights the prominent role of Tiger seizures from captive facilities, including farms, zoos and tourist locations. At least 297 of the 1755 tigers (17%) are those that have been reportedly seized from or originated from captive facilities, crucially though this percentage rises to an estimated 30% (or 154 Tigers) for the most recent quarter (2012-2015). Ten of the 13 TRCs reported seizures of live Tigers, totalling 263 live Tigers seized over the 16-year review period, with Thailand and Viet Nam seizing the highest numbers. Overall, the greatest number of seizures were reported by India, accounting for 44% (355) of all reported seizures. However, statistically analysis of its short-term data indicates that the relative proportion of seizures in India significantly declined over this time period. Moreover, there was no statistically significant change in the relative proportion of seizures for any of the other countries during 2000-2015. Ten of the 13 TRCs reported seizures of live Tigers, totalling 263 live Tigers seized during the 16-year review period, with Thailand and Viet Nam reporting the highest numbers. Overall, the highest number of seizures was reported by India, accounting for 44% (355) of all reported seizures. However, statistical analysis of its short-term data indicates that the relative proportion of seizures in India, compared to other TRCs, has significantly declined over this period. Moreover, there was no statistically significant change in the relative proportion of seizures for any of the other countries during 2000-2015. In the analysis of Tiger commodity type in trade, the data show that skins – seized in complete parts, representing one Tiger – were the commodity most often seized, with a minimum of 758 skins seized during the 16-year period analysed. Statistical analysis of the combined trend for all TRCs, however, indicate a significant decrease in the seizure of skins. Notably, while the first quarter of the 2010-2015 timeframe saw 214 Tiger skins seized, this number declined in each subsequent quarter, with a minimum of 146 skins recorded seized in the most recent quarter of 2012-2015. This decline, however, could have been due to reporting issues rather than to an actual decline in Tiger skins being seized. For instance, India’s reported seizures of skins have declined drastically since 2009. At a Tiger range level, seizures of bones in the most recent quarter (2012-2015), however, were significantly higher than in the preceding three quarters. Similarly, the amount of Tiger bone wine detected in trade – mostly seized in China and Viet Nam - was higher in the most recent quarter than in the preceding quarters. Alarmingly, more Tiger canines were seized in the 2012-2015 quarter than the three previous quarters combined, and this may signal a greater demand for these as items of jewellery. The huge disparity in how each of the TRCs report seizures makes meaningful and accurate analysis exceedingly difficult, particularly regional level analysis. The lack of a systematic centralized reporting system underlies this problem. While the data shows both the number of seizures and number of Tigers seized across Asia increasing throughout the 2000- 2015 review period, this is not consistent with national level trends, and may reflect changes in reporting practices rather than anything substantive. Details: Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia; TRAFFIC, Southeast Asia Regional Office, 2016. 101p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 16, 2016 at: http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/157301/27333821/1479214615913/Reduced-to-Skin-and-Bones-Re-examined-Full-Analysis.pdf?token=RB5g%2BuJ3dqgx%2BUfDNqZzgWtkDPA%3D Year: 2016 Country: Asia Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 141184 |
Author: United Nations Action for Cooperation against Trafficking in Persons Title: A Study of Forced Marriage between Cambodia and China Summary: This report examines patterns of forced marriage in the context of broader migratory flows between Cambodia and China. It primarily draws on the accounts of 42 Cambodian women who experienced conditions of forced marriage, with interviews having taken place in both countries. Key informants from government and non-government stakeholders in Cambodia and China were consulted as well. The objective has been to analyze recruitment, brokering, transportation and exploitation patterns as well as the links between these; to determine service needs amongst Cambodians trafficked to China for forced marriage, in China, during the repatriation process and upon return to Cambodia; as well as to identify opportunities for interventions to prevent forced marriages from occurring and to extend protective services to those in need, at both policy and programming levels. The phenomenon of forced marriage has received increasing recognition and attention in the Greater Mekong Sub-Region, initially from Myanmar and Viet Nam into China and within China itself, but lately also from countries further afield especially Cambodia. In Cambodia, the lack of employment opportunities and low wages, amongst other factors, are leaving young people with few alternatives but to seek work outside their home country. Cambodian women have especially limited educational and job prospects whilst at the same time facing high pressures to contribute financially to their families. Given restrictive labor migration policies especially in low-skill sectors in the region, marriage migration to improve economic conditions has become a viable alternative. China is confronted with an unusually high gender imbalance derived primarily from more than 30 years of one-child policy coupled with gender selection due to son preference. The latter is linked to Chinese traditions that see the sons carry on the families’ lineage over generations as well as care for their aging parents, together with their wives that join the husbands’ families. In this environment, particularly the economically disadvantaged rural men in China look to women from other countries like Cambodia, Myanmar or Viet Nam. Both countries, however, prohibit international marriage broker services, meaning marriage migration is often facilitated by agents cooperating across borders without licenses and oversight. Whilst anecdotal evidence suggests that some, perhaps even many, of the Cambodian women living in arranged marriages in China are content in their situations, this study outlines the possible downsides of engagements brought about in non-regulated manners Details: Bangkok: UNDP, 2016. 37p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 28, 2016 at: http://un-act.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/08/Final_UN-ACT_Forced_Marriage_Report.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Asia Keywords: Forced Marriage Shelf Number: 146253 |
Author: Bhulai, Rafia Title: Strengthening Regional Cooperation to Prevent and Counter Violent Extremism in South Asia. What Role for Civil Society? Summary: Since 2011, the Global Center has worked with the UN Security Council Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), with generous support from the government of Norway, to implement a process that engages civil society actors and experts in efforts to enhance regional cooperation in South Asia. This process, undertaken in partnership with the Institute of South Asian Studies at the National University of Singapore, included regular dialogue and engagement with nongovernmental actors in South Asia to foster deeper understanding of local and regional drivers of terrorism and violent extremism and to identify critical gaps, opportunities, and priorities for capacity-building support to address the threat. This assessment presents key outcomes of the multiyear civil society and experts process. It provides an overview of regional challenges and the efforts by the Global Center and CTED to identify key needs and priorities to inform responsive policies and programs to address the threat of terrorism and violent extremism in South Asia. A set of recommendations highlight practical ways that multilateral and regional organizations and national governments can work with civil society, experts, and practitioners to address this threat in the region. Details: Washington, DC: Global Center on Cooperative Security, 2016. 17p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 16, 2016 at: http://www.globalcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/12/2016-12_Bhulai-Fink-South-Asia-CSE-Process.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Asia Keywords: Counter-Terrorism Shelf Number: 146118 |
Author: Beastall, Claire A. Title: Apes in Demand: For zoo and wildlife attractions in Peninsular Malaysia and Thailand Summary: A report based on a survey of 57 facilities across Thailand recorded 51 orangutans on display, but found records for only 21 in the 2014 International Studbook of the Orangutan, which records the source, births, transfers and deaths of individual animals in zoos and attractions worldwide. The numbers of non-native apes seen during the survey in Thailand were also much higher than those recorded as legally imported. Records from the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) database showed the import of just five orangutans into Thailand since 1975 and none that could explain the presence of the single Western Gorilla or 14 crested gibbons seen during the survey. According to the study, Apes in Demand for zoos and wildlife attractions in Peninsular Malaysia and Thailand, this suggests "that at least some of these animals arrived in captivity illegally", and in breach of CITES’s strict rules governing the trade in Appendix I listed species. The report considers that largely to blame are Thailand's laws which fail to protect wildlife from outside the country. Details: Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia, TRAFFIC, Southeast Asia Regional Office, 2016. 43p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 16, 2016 at: http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/157301/27369265/1481208884120/Apes-in-demand.pdf?token=Bdbi81Hk2MLk7nWnuiLaAhVZGNY%3D Year: 2016 Country: Asia Keywords: Illegal Wildlife Trade Shelf Number: 146126 |
Author: Bhati, Abhishek Dalip Singh. Title: Stakeholder responses to vandalism at visitor attractions: a Singapore and Bangkok comparisons Summary: his PhD project considered specific tourist behaviours designated as acts of tourist vandalism. The study sought to understand stakeholder responses to the tourist linked vandalism. The context of this work was the tropics - specifically the popular tourism destinations of Singapore and Bangkok in South East Asia. Stakeholders considered were the community, managers of tourist facilities and government agency personnel responsible for policy matters related to attraction management. Each group of stakeholders held potentially different perspectives and likely responses to deviant behaviours. Component parts of the study considered the responses which aim to reduce or eliminate deviant behaviors. The research employed a post-positivist methodology to investigate the extent of vandalism, stakeholder attitudes, levels of community participation, nature of intervention strategies and future intentions related to visitor vandalism and its control. By applying the defensible space and crime prevention through environment design (CPTED) constructs from environmental design and management, the extent and nature of vandalism at visitor attractions was initially explored. In the subsequent parts of the work, the community, site managers and government officers’ responses were all investigated through surveys and structured interviews. Building on the major themes in the background literature reported in Chapters One and Two, Chapter Three specifically reported on a physical audit of 22 matched sites and discussed the prevalence of acts of property damage/vandalism at visitor attractions in the two countries. The visitor attractions were grouped into clusters with the help of the SPSS cluster analysis program. The cluster analysis revealed that sites under the sustainable cluster employed effective vandalism prevention and control practices in their operations. In comparison, the vandalised cluster evidenced mismanagement and lack of stakeholder participation resulting in widespread property damage. The other clusters were characterised by poor management practices, lack of ownership and participation or poor enforcement. Chapter Four evaluated community responses, their involvement with other stakeholder groups in joint action to address vandalism and desired levels of involvement to arrive at a better understanding of community’s role in addressing property damage. The study found that there was a widespread view that vandalism was a serious issue but there was also optimism in both locations, especially Bangkok, that the problem would be reduced in the future, although willingness to be involved in active intervention was not high. The third and final study in Chapter Five concentrated on the attitudes and responses of stakeholder groups such as site managers and government officers to property damage at visitor attraction under their supervision. This particular chapter explicitly highlighted the differences between responses of key stakeholder groups. Four key stakeholder groups were identified for the study: site managers in Bangkok (BSM), site managers in Singapore (SSM), government officers in Bangkok (BGO) and government offices in Singapore (SGO). The interview transcripts of the four groups were analysed with the help of relatively new and powerful content analysis software, Leximancer. The findings showed significant differences in the attitudes of the four stakeholder groups in terms of seriousness of property damage as a problem at the visitor attractions under their supervision. The concluding Chapter Six linked the findings and conclusions to the overall research problem. The chapter described the contributions of this research as a novel comparative study involving tropical tourism destinations in the Asia Pacific region. The limitations and challenges of the work were presented, and then the future directions of this area of inquiry identified. The research undertaken in this thesis has expanded upon the existing body of scientific knowledge and understanding in five main ways. First, it employed existing theoretical frameworks such as defensible space and the CPTED approach to crime prevention within a different context, that is, visitor behaviour at visitor attractions, and from a different conceptual focus of behaviour intervention instead of motivations to behaviour. Second, the physical audit study identified important site characteristics of the attraction property's design and management relevant to managing the tropical Asian context. Third, for the first time, arguably, it compared attitudes towards vandalism within the local community, in different countries and across a wide range of attraction sites. Fourth, the study evaluated the differing perspectives of key stakeholders – the site managers and government officials groups. Finally, it proposed a framework of property damage control and prevention at visitor attractions. This integrative model was based on the core premise that a systematic and coordinated effort is required to address the complex problem of vandalism at tourist attractions. Details: Cairns City, AUS: James Cook University, 2014. 395p. Source: Internet Resource: Dissertation: Accessed March 3, 2017 at: http://researchonline.jcu.edu.au/1899/1/1899-bhati-2014-thesis.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Asia Keywords: Graffiti Shelf Number: 141316 |
Author: Samuels, Fiona Title: Tackling intimate partner violence in South Asia: Why working with men and boys matters for women Summary: This report explores multi-level influences that shape the perpetration of intimate partner violence (IPV) by men and boys in South Asia. It also examines the policy, programming and institutional dynamics that mediate attitudes and behaviours around IPV. Drawing on a mixed-methods approach from three countries facing different forms of state fragility – Bangladesh, Nepal and Pakistan – it explores three key questions: To what extent do social norms drive male perpetration of IPV in South Asia? In what ways do broader political economic dynamics shape attitudes, behaviours and service provision regarding IPV? What are the entry points for policy and programming to tackle male perpetration of IPV? The report provides programming and policy recommendations to tackle IPV in South Asia. It stresses the importance of engaging with men and boys in efforts to tackle IPV, particularly given a backlash that appears to be growing as women become more empowered in the region. Details: London: Overseas Development Institute, 2017. 23p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 31, 2017 at: https://www.odi.org/sites/odi.org.uk/files/resource-documents/11342.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Asia Keywords: Abusive Men Shelf Number: 144650 |
Author: Asian Development Bank Title: Policy Brief: A Safe Public Transportation Environment for Women and Girls Summary: Past research has determined that women are much more fearful than men of becoming a target of crime. The role of transport companies, whether privately or publicly owned, is critical in addressing sexual harassment. It is only by specifically considering the needs and concerns of women and girls that we design infrastructure and services that are truly inclusive. This three-country study analyzes the incidence and impacts of sexual harassment on public transport. It proposes simple design changes and policy considerations which when implemented, can change the behavior of targets, perpetrators and bystanders, and make public transportation systems a safer and preferred commuting option for both women and men. Details: Tokyo: Asian Development Bank, 2015. 38p. Source: Internet Resource: Accesssed April 1, 2017 at: https://www.adb.org/sites/default/files/publication/179182/safe-public-transport-women-girls.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Asia Keywords: Public Safety Shelf Number: 144692 |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Regional Office for East Asia and the Pacific. ASEAN Title: Evidence for enhancing resilience to opium poppy cultivation in Shan State, Myanmar: Implications for alternative development, peace, and stability Summary: In 2016, the annual village survey was conducted in 591 villages in Shan state, the main opium poppy cultivating area in Myanmar. An independent area estimation was not part of the survey this year; however, UNODC expanded largely on the socio‐economic analysis of opium cultivation in the context of the UN Guiding Principles on Alternative Development and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Opium poppy continues to be an important part of the Shan State economy About 1 in 10 households in the villages surveyed in Shan State are directly involved in opium poppy cultivation. The share of villages that cultivate opium poppy and the share of households within these villages that participate have both decreased over the past year. However, opium poppy is still integral to the state’s economy, and there are many households who depend on poppy cultivation for their livelihood. Fewer villages and farmers are growing opium poppy There has been a reduction in the number of villages and households involved in opium poppy cultivation; however, accompanied by an increase in the average area under cultivation per household. The average area under opium poppy cultivation increased from 0.4 hectares per household in 2015 to 0.6 hectares in 2016. This concentration of cultivation confirms earlier observations. The average income in opium poppy villages is higher, but the positive impact on household finances is largely offset by higher costs of living The average annual household income is higher in villages where opium poppy is cultivated (US$2,261) than in non‐opium poppy villages (US$1,839). Farmers in opium poppy villages, however, were primarily buying food with the income from poppy cultivation. Moreover, there are several indications that people living in villages where opium poppy is grown face higher living costs than their peers in non‐opium poppy villages. Many opium poppy villages in East and North Shan are located in remote or highly inaccessible areas with low infrastructure coverage. For example, very few opium poppy villages have asphalt roads, and somewhat fewer of these villages have clinics than non‐growing villages (although village clinics are rare throughout East and North Shan, with such facilities operating in less than one in five villages). The nearest outside clinic also took twice as long to reach from opium poppy villages. The lack of clinics and roads means that health and transportation costs are higher for farmers in opium poppy villages in East and North Shan. Farmers in opium poppy villages face challenges in relying only on licit sources of income Across Shan State, cash crops – licit or illicit – are the main source of income for farmers. In non‐ opium poppy villages, cash crops, primarily rice, were cited as the primary source of income by nearly half of all surveyed village headmen. Before deciding to substitute opium poppy with licit crops, farmers would need to consider some challenges. Access to local markets for agricultural products is critical. None of the opium poppy cultivating villages had local markets, whereas 8 per cent of the non‐opium poppy villages had them. Moreover, the nearest market took more than two hours to reach on foot from opium poppy villages, compared to just under an hour from non‐ opium poppy villages. Daily wages were also markedly lower in poppy‐cultivating villages; the difference was greatest for male workers. These challenges make it more difficult to earn a living from licit activities in opium poppy villages than in villages where opium poppy is not grown. Distinct motivations for growing opium poppy in South Shan Several sustainable development indicators show a different situation in South Shan in comparison to East and North Shan. Villages which cultivate opium poppy in South Shan still have low levels of development but their characteristics are different from those in East and North Shan. In South Shan, the average income is higher and the infrastructure better than in East and North Shan, and more people are able to access salaried jobs, which are usually better remunerated and more stable. Moreover, according to the village headmen, the majority of households in South Shan, regardless of their opium poppy cultivation status, do not need to resort to drastic strategies to cope with food insecurity, such as reducing the number of meals per day, in contrast to East and North Shan. The higher incomes, better infrastructure and food security status in South Shan may indicate that opium poppy cultivation is primarily driven by capital accumulation, while in East and North Shan, cultivation seems to be more closely linked with subsistence needs. However, the relatively high income inequality among farmers in opium poppy villages in South Shan may suggest that there are a number of farmers who are not able to make ends meet also there. People in opium poppy villages are more dependent on forest resources, and more prone to experiencing environmental and climate‐related challenges Many households across Shan State depend on wood from local forests for cooking, particularly in villages where opium poppy is cultivated. More village headmen from opium poppy villages reported declining local forest quality in the last two years than their peers from non‐opium poppy villages. The quality of the drinking water is another concern, and again, the problem is more pronounced in opium poppy villages. There are also indications that opium poppy villages seem to be somewhat more affected by climate related shocks, like frost or drought, which could decrease crop yields and increase the price of food. Details: Thailand: UNODC - ASEAN, 2017. 84p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 3, 2017 at: http://www.unodc.org/documents/southeastasiaandpacific//Publications/2017/2016_Myanmar_Shan_Opium_Poppy_web.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Asia Keywords: Illegal Drugs Shelf Number: 144703 |
Author: Sayigh, Yezid Title: Dilemmas of Reform: Policing in Arab Transitions Summary: Struggles over the security sector have been central to the politics of every Arab state that has undergone transition in the wake of armed conflict or political upheaval since the early 1990s. And wherever pre-transition elite coalitions have been neither forged anew nor replaced, security sectors no longer clearly serve a dominant political, social, and economic order. In these contexts, generic Western models of security sector reform cannot adequately resolve the dilemmas revealed by Arab states in transition and can do no more than alter these sectors superficially. Systemic change is needed, but the political and institutional brittleness of Arab states in transition presents a significant obstacle. Dilemmas of Policing in Arab States in Transition - Constitutional frameworks in these states are degraded and politics are polarized, which prevents the effective governance of security sectors. -State capacity is in decline, undermining the ability of policing to help uphold the social order and moral economy. - These governments' renewed emphasis on counterterrorism has intensified long-standing patterns of violent behavior and impunity in the security sector, reinforcing the sector's resistance to reform while prompting the public to acquiesce to the restoration of authoritarian practices. - Declining state resources, increasingly informal economies, and deepening illegality have raised the costs of reforming and professionalizing security sectors. These trends have also incentivized security sectors' implication in corruption and collusion with criminal networks and armed actors, stiffening the sectors' resistance to reform. - Growing numbers of citizens have turned to alternative forms of community policing and mechanisms based on customary law, but these systems are eroding, often giving way to hybrid, militia-based structures. Challenging Future - Security sector reform cannot take place unless political elites and leading institutional actors see a shared interest in it. In the absence of this, security sectors have fractured along sectarian, ethnic, and partisan lines, or have asserted their complete autonomy in pursuit of their own agendas. - Generic transparency rules and oversight frameworks recommended in conventional reform approaches cannot tackle corruption or illegal economic activity in the security sector. Arab states in transition are especially unwilling to undertake necessary but risky reforms or to impose accountability. - The rehabilitation and reform of security sectors requires a nonpartisan approach and depends on reaching a reasonable consensus on the components of the social order and the principles of an acceptable moral economy. Without this, the technical assistance and training routinely offered in conventional reform programs will be of little value. Details: Washington, DC: Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Beirut, Lebanon: Carnegie Middle East Center, 2016. 50p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 17, 2017 at: http://carnegieendowment.org/files/CEIP_CMEC61_Sayigh_Final.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Asia Keywords: Informal Economy Shelf Number: 145050 |
Author: Mansfield, David Title: Development in a Drugs Environment: A Strategic Approach to 'Alternative Development' Summary: Whichever way we look at it Alternative Development is at a crossroads: there is confusion over language and terms, concerns over the technical capacity of implementing bodies, and the growing view that the attribution of both drug control and development outcomes to alternative development projects remains opaque. The result is funding for alternative development projects continues to fall. There are certainly many in the wider development community who question how alternative development differs from conventional rural development and whether the inclusion of key cross cutting issues such as poverty, gender, the environment and conflict have actually manifested in improvements in the lives and livelihoods of primary stakeholders. Without more robust evidence of the impact of these programmes on both human development indicators and illicit drug crop cultivation, as well as improved confidence in the effectiveness of those bodies that have traditionally designed and implemented alternative development programmes, it is unlikely that levels of funding for the kind of discrete area based alternative development projects of the past will actually recover. More recently in Afghanistan, and increasingly in other source countries in Asia, the term 'alternative development' has been substituted with 'Alternative Livelihoods' with little recognition of the conceptual and operational differences. Elsewhere terms such as 'Sustainable Alternative Livelihoods' and indeed 'Sustainable Livelihoods' itself are sneaking into the rubric of drug control agencies as they search for a common language and legitimacy with the development community. Even the term 'Alternative Development' still means 'many things to many people'. For those whose performance is measured simply in terms of reductions in the amount of opium poppy and coca grown, alternative development is seen as simply as the 'carrot' to the eradication 'stick', and the provision of development assistance is contingent on reductions in illicit drug crop cultivation. For others, reductions in illicit drug crop cultivation are an externality of a development process (that includes extending good governance and the rule of law) aimed at achieving sustainable improvements in lives and livelihoods. In terms of both process and the primary goal there is still much disagreement with regard to alternative development. However, there is a danger of 'throwing the baby out with the bathwater'. Alternative development projects have achieved both development and drug control outcomes in specific geographical areas where more conventional development agencies are often not even present, despite the prevailing levels of poverty and conflict. For those who have experienced the low levels of literacy, high incidence of food insecurity, infant mortality and malnutrition that typically exist in illicit drug crop producing areas, as well as the lack of governance and prevailing levels of violence and intimidation from both state and non-state actors, arguments about the relatively high income of opium poppy and coca growing households seems rather inappropriate and ill informed. To this group the subsequent improvements in the income and quality of life of communities that often accompany alternative development projects at the same time as levels of opium poppy or coca cultivation fall are obvious, even if they might have been documented better or achieved more cost effectively. Details: Eschborn, Germany: Deutsche Gesellschaft fr Technische Zusammenarbeit (GTZ) GmbH, Development-oriented Drug Control Programme (DDC), 2006. 40p. Source: Internet Resource: Discussion Paper: Accessed April 21, 2017 at: http://www.countthecosts.org/sites/default/files/Development%20in%20a%20Drugs%20Environment.pdf Year: 2006 Country: Asia Keywords: Drug Control Shelf Number: 145140 |
Author: World Health Organization Title: Atlas: substance use in the Eastern Mediterranean Region 2015 Summary: Mental disorders have a profound effect on individuals, their families and society, and are responsible for 11% of disease burden in the Eastern Mediterranean Region yet. WHO's Project Atlas 2014 has collected and compiled information about mental health resources in countries around the world. This regional review incorporates region-specific data, presenting comparisons with other regions, analysing countries with similar health system characteristics within the Region, and providing concise summary sheets for each country that provided data for the Atlas 2014 Project. It is hoped that this will assist stakeholders in the countries of the Region to identify gaps in current provision and inform decisions around increasing resources to scale up services for mental health. Details: Cairo: World Health Organization, Regional Office for the Eastern Mediterranean, 2017. 134p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 29, 2017 at: http://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/10665/254675/1/emropub_2017_19560.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Asia Keywords: Alcohol Abuse Shelf Number: 145199 |
Author: Lynch, Darlene C. Title: Through the Eyes of the Child: Barriers to Access to Justice and Remedies for Child Victims of Sexual Exploitation Summary: Access to Justice and Right to Remedies for Child Victims of Sexual Exploitation Research Project is a multi-country initiative focusing on child survivors' experiences in accessing judicial remedies and other reparations for sexual exploitation. With its unique focus and prioritization of the voice of the child survivor, the Project empowers children to be active agents in their protection, strengthening access to judicial remedies; identifying the specific recovery and reintegration needs of child victims of sexual exploitation; and improving the opportunity of monetary relief for victims to rebuild their lives. The Research findings and recommendations are presented in thematic papers and reports focusing on Access to Criminal Justice; Access to Recovery and Reintegration; Access to Compensation. Details: Bangkok: ECPAT International, 2017. 182p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 12, 2017 at: http://www.ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/04/Thought-the-Eyes-of-the-Child_Access-to-Justice-thematic-report.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Protection Shelf Number: 145449 |
Author: Gupte, Jaideep Title: Policing Urban Violence: Lessons from South Asia Summary: As densely populated urban centres emerge as economic powerhouses where global GDP is concentrated, they are also increasingly vulnerable to shocks of violence and insecurity. Well-managed urban economies have the potential to provide a route out of poverty, however, poor urban communities are disproportionately affected by violence, making the provision of effective and sustainable security in urban centres a key issue in developing countries. IDS research in South Asia shows that urban insecurity tends to receive an overtly militaristic response. While urban police forces continue to play a central role in creating safe and secure urban environments, it is also evident however, that sustainable security results from wider collaborations between state and nonstate actors. Details: Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies, 2014. 4p. Source: Internet Resource: Policy Briefing, no. 57: Accessed May 13, 2017 at: https://opendocs.ids.ac.uk/opendocs/bitstream/handle/123456789/3650/AG_ID356_PB;jsessionid=3BB45CFE7331D57809D40C221CD208AF?sequence=1#57_UrbanViolence_Web.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Asia Keywords: Policing Shelf Number: 145459 |
Author: Zeiger, Sara Title: Undermining Violent Extremist Narratives in South East Asia: A How-To Guide Summary: The aim of this compendium is to provide guidance and insight for practitioners, policymakers, governments and civil society organizations in South East Asia that are interested in developing counter-narratives and alternative narratives to the messaging produced by violent extremists. The compendium will draw on international good practice and lessons learned to inform and inspire these actors to utilize the most effective methods and strategies. The compendium begins with a step-by-step approach to counter-narratives, with clear examples from South East Asia. The compendium then dives deeper into several case studies, highlighting elements of good practice from the region before presenting a detailed annex of 80 existing counter-narratives from South East Asia (Annex 3). It should be noted that the narratives and subsequent analysis of the narratives and counter-narratives contained in this report mostly focus on violent extremism of groups that claim to be Islamic, primarily because the majority of the threats posed by violent extremist groups in South East Asia fall under this category. However, this is not to say that violent extremism only relates to the above category, and there are case examples from other non-Islamic forms of violent extremism. For a more robust assessment of the threats of violent extremism in the region, refer to Annex 2: Violent Extremism in South East Asia. It is important to establish the terminology that has been adopted throughout the compendium. The term "narrative" generally refers to the story or recruitment pitch of violent extremists, whereas "counter-narrative" generally refers to the story or counter-argument utilized to reduce the appeal of violent extremism. Counter-narratives include counter-arguments as well as positive, alternative narratives and government strategic communications. The contents of this compendium rely on a number of sources: 1) research on the academic and policy literature conducted by the author; 2) an expert workshop on "South East Asia Counter-Narratives for Countering Violent Extremism (CVE)" hosted by Hedayah and the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation (JCLEC) in Semarang, Indonesia in March 2016 and the subsequent report;1 and 3) a consultation process on draft versions of the compendium with regional experts and policymakers from the region. Details: Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates: Hedayah Center, 2016. 45p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 13, 2017 at: http://www.hedayahcenter.org/Admin/Content/File-3182016115528.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Asia Keywords: Counter-Extremism Shelf Number: 145466 |
Author: United Nations Environment Programme Title: Illegal Trade in Ozone Depleting Substances: Asia and Pacific Region Summary: llegal trade has become one of the major obstacles in achieving efficient phase out of ozone depleting substances (ODS) in developing countries. Activities have been encouraged on a national, regional and global scale to improve the process of monitoring and control of ODS in order to prevent illegal trade. Enforcement of legislation dealing with ODS is needed through investment in customs resources, including training and equipment and emphasising the important role of cooperation between enforcement authorities at national and regional level. This is an assessment report on Illegal Trade in Ozone Depleting Substances in Asia and Pacific region. It analyses the smuggling reasons, routes and trends of ODS, and also presents the outcome of a desk study on trans-boundary movement of ODS in the region. It could assist customs officers, ozone officers and other enforcement officers in their work to control trade in ODS. Details: Bangkok, Thailand: UNEP, 2017. 80p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 14, 2017 at: http://www.unep.fr/ozonaction/information/mmcfiles/6075-e-illegal-trade-asia.pdf Year: 2007 Country: Asia Keywords: Environmental Crime Shelf Number: 146100 |
Author: Pande, Rohini Prabha Title: Addressing Intimate Partner Violence in South Asia: Evidence for interventions in the health sector, women's collectives, and local governance mechanisms Summary: Intimate partner violence (IPV) is defined as sexual, physical or psychological violence inflicted by a partner or expartner. Women across the world experience gender-based violence (GBV) and IPV. While there is agreement on the need to develop multi-sector, large-scale systemic responses to address this situation (Lancet 2014)1, there is only fragmented evidence on what constitutes an effective response. This is particularly true at the community level, where there is a convergence of several factors that influence IPV. This review seeks to understand how best to design responsive IPV interventions by examining relevant programs that were or are being implemented in South Asia. These interventions have all been evaluated to some extent and offer rich learning for future interventions. The specific objectives of this review are as follows: 1. To identify past or current IPV interventions in South Asia implemented at a systemic level using one or more of the following platforms: a. The public health system, b. Local governance systems, or c. Women's collectives. 2. To gather, synthesize and analyze existing evidence from these programs to identify key implementation challenges and understand how to design more responsive programs, especially in India. The three community-based platforms mentioned above have been selected because they are easily and frequently accessed by women; cover the range of interactions that a woman has with her community; and are relevant to the Indian context. Details: New Delhi: International Center for Research on Women, 2017. 72p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 25, 2017 at: https://www.icrw.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Partner-Violence-in-South-ASIA-Report-Final-file-17-04-2017.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Asia Keywords: Family Violence Shelf Number: 146900 |
Author: Haas, Timothy C. Title: Combating Rhino Horn Trafficking: The Need to Disrupt Criminal Networks Summary: The onslaught on the World's wildlife continues despite numerous initiatives aimed at curbing it. We build a model that integrates rhino horn trade with rhino population dynamics in order to evaluate the impact of various management policies on rhino sustainability. In our model, an agent-based sub-model of horn trade from the poaching event up through a purchase of rhino horn in Asia impacts rhino abundance. A data-validated, individual-based sub-model of the rhino population of South Africa provides these abundance values. We evaluate policies that consist of different combinations of legal trade initiatives, demand reduction marketing campaigns, increased anti-poaching measures within protected areas, and transnational policing initiatives aimed at disrupting those criminal syndicates engaged in horn trafficking. Simulation runs of our model over the next 35 years produces a sustainable rhino population under only one management policy. This policy includes both a transnational policing effort aimed at dismantling those criminal networks engaged in rhino horn trafficking-coupled with increases in legal economic opportunities for people living next to protected areas where rhinos live. This multi-faceted approach should be the focus of the international debate on strategies to combat the current slaughter of rhino rather than the binary debate about whether rhino horn trade should be legalized. This approach to the evaluation of wildlife management policies may be useful to apply to other species threatened by wildlife trafficking. Details: s. PLoS ONE 11(11): e0167040. doi:10.1371/journal.pone.0167040 Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 1, 2017 at: http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0167040 Year: 2016 Country: Asia Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 146989 |
Author: WildAid Title: Rhino Horn Demand: 2012-2014 Summary: In 2012, WildAid interviewed residents in three major Chinese cities - Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou - to better understand awareness and attitudes toward rhino conservation, and to identify the behaviors and beliefs of rhino horn consumers. In 2013, WildAid and African Wildlife Foundation launched a campaign to reduce the demand for rhino horn in China. Using the 2012 findings to inform the campaign strategy, WildAid began working to raise awareness of the rhino poaching crisis, support lawmakers and increase enforcement efforts in China, and ultimately reduce demand for rhino horn. One year into the campaign, WildAid replicated its survey to assess changes in awareness, attitudes and behavior regarding rhino horn consumption and the poaching crisis, and to ascertain the reach of campaign messages in Beijing, Shanghai, and Guangzhou. Rhinos continue to be poached at an alarming scale. More than 1,215 rhinos were poached for their horns in South Africa alone in 2014 compared to just 13 rhinos killed in 2007. However, there has been progress in changing attitudes and beliefs toward rhinos and rhino horn in one of the worlds top consuming nations. WildAid/AWF's 2014 survey shows significant improvement in overall knowledge and recognition of the severity of the poaching crisis, as well as awareness of how rhino horn is obtained. - There was a 23.5% reduction in the belief that rhino horn has a medicinal effect. - Ninety-five percent of residents who do not consume rhino horn agree that the Chinese government should take stricter action to prevent the use of rhino horns, while even 87% of rhino horn consumers agree with stricter regulations. - Of the residents who had seen WildAid's rhino PSAs featuring ambassadors Yao Ming or Jackie Chan, 90% said they would not buy rhino horn after watching them. The results of the 2014 survey are promising and demonstrate that demand reduction campaigns are having an impact on China's residents' attitudes and behaviors toward rhinos and the rhino horn trade. Details: San Francisco: WildAid, 2014? 16p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 1, 2017 at: http://www.wildaid.org/sites/default/files/resources/Rhino%20Horn%20Report_Final_v2.pdf Year: 2014 Country: Asia Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 146991 |
Author: Elephant Action League Title: Grinding Rhino: An Undercover Investigation on Rhino Horn Trafficking in China and Vietnam Summary: In response to unprecedented growth in rhinoceros poaching rates in the past ten years, and enduring consumer demand for rhinoceros horn in both China and Vietnam, EAL commenced Operation Red Cloud in August 2016 and ended it in June 2017. Grinding Rhino cover webOperation Red Cloud is the first undercover investigation into rhino horn trafficking in China in decades. This 11-month intelligence gathering and investigative operation was designed to expose and map the networks, the players and the means (or 'modus operandi') by which rhino horn is trafficked into China. Today, EAL is releasing the results of this incredibly comprehensive operation. A separate 200-page Confidential Intelligence Brief (CIB) has been prepared for law enforcement only, and it includes detailed information and evidence on 55 identified Persons of Interest involved in rhino horn trafficking in China and Vietnam. Although completely illegal since 1993, anyone with the desire and means can easily buy rhinoceros horn in China. All you need to do is walk into an 'antiques' shop and ask. The rhino horn products they show you are far from antique, though, they are new and have most likely been illegally trafficked from Africa to Vietnam and then into China. The report Grinding Rhino: An Undercover Investigation on Rhino Horn Trafficking in China and Vietnam, shows us exactly how rhino horn makes its way into those shops in China, now the largest illegal market for rhino horn in the world. For Operation Red Cloud, in addition to off-site research and intelligence analysis, EAL investigators executed multiple field missions to China and Vietnam. EAL targeted provinces along the southern border of China - Guangxi, Guangdong, and Yunnan - as well as Henan, Fujian, Beijing, and a few key locations in Vietnam. Leveraging the experience and expertise of EAL's investigative team, and a regional network of informants, advisors, and skilled investigative assets, Operation Red Cloud has produced actionable data on what is the latter half of the rhino horn supply chain. Details: Los Angeles: EAL, 2017. 95p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 1, 2017 at: https://elephantleague.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/07/Grinding-Rhino-July2017-Elephant-Action-League.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Asia Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 146994 |
Author: Samuel, Thomas Koruth Title: Radicalisation in Southeast Asia: A Selected Case study of DAESH in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines Summary: This research looks at the issue of Daesh-type radicalisation in the region, focusing particularly on Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Having identified that Daesh's narrative was the key driver and catalyst for such radicalisation, the study then goes on to propose a '4-Step Counter-Narrative Developmental Model' to deal with this specific challenge. A qualitative approach was employed for this study and this encompassed roundtable discussions and both structured and non-structured interviews. Participants were relevant policy makers, law enforcement officials, academics, researchers, the military, experts and civil society leaders mainly, but not limited to Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines. Insights were also obtained from various workshops, conferences and seminars both within and beyond the Southeast Asian region. Numerous reports, briefings and commentaries from various sources in this field were also examined. Drafts of the research study were then sent to academics and practitioners both locally and internationally to obtain their feedback and critique. Chapter One of the research starts by looking at the terms associated with the subject matter; exploring briefly the concept of radicalisation and FTF and justifying the usage of the term Daesh to describe the group in question. The study then traces the history and evolution of Daesh from the beginning, looking closely at its leaders, ideology, funding, relations with other groups, its operations and exploitation of the media and its past attacks. Chapter Two takes a closer look at Daesh's interest in the Southeast Asian region. Based on the group's activities in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, coupled with justifications and reasons by leading experts in this field, this chapter attempts to study the objectives and intentions that Daesh has planned for Southeast Asia, discussing the probability and possibility of a member-state/s evolving to become a 'Daesh satellite state.' Chapter Three looks at how Daesh evolved in Indonesia, tracing its history and the key idealogues that both supported and developed the group to reach its current status. The establishment and subsequent growth of Katibah Nusantara and its implications not just to Indonesia but to the region as a whole are given special attention. Issues such as how religion is used by Daesh, the method and impact of radicalisation and recruitment in prisons and among students and undergraduates as well as the response and reaction of the Indonesian public and civil society and the push back against Daesh measured in terms of the counter-narratives are also studied. The Government's response, particularly through the existing legislature and the proposed laws together with the deradicalisation programmes conducted by the authorities are also discussed. Chapter Four then proceeds to study the genesis of Daesh in Malaysia. It looks at Malaysia's history with FTF, from the period when Malaysians fought in Afghanistan in the 1980s (the so-called Afghan Alumni) to the current crop of Malaysians in Syria and Iraq. A chronological look at the developments taking place on the ground, and in particular the arrests made upon Daesh supporters, sympathisers and recruits and the subsequent response by the authorities, particularly in terms of legislation is also closely examined. Issues related to Daesh-type radicalisation such as the motivational factors driving Malaysians to commit to the group's ideology, the pre-radicalisation indicators exhibited by potential recruits and the possibility of non-violent, radical groups acting as 'conveyor belts' and subsequently paving the way for violent extremism is touched upon. The characteristics of Malaysian FTF and the impending danger they pose should they return are also considered. Chapter Five then attempts to study the impact of Daesh in the Philippines. Emphasis is placed upon tracing the home-grown terror groups that have pledged their allegiance to Daesh as well as to consider the kind of relations that exist between the former and the latter. The Comprehensive Agreement on the Bangsamoro (CAB) is also closely looked at together with the possible impact its failure to pass through Congress would have on the radicalisation process in the Philippines. The issue of motivational factors that could drive people to radicalisation is also discussed. Chapter Six collates the significant findings from the research in Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines and identifies seven areas, which are deemed noteworthy, and these include, the role of religion, Daesh's capacity to disseminate their narrative, the issue of returning FTF, the Daesh directed/inspired type of radicalisation models, the dual narrative of shame and the need to do something, the lack of counter-narratives and dissemination channels and lastly, Daesh's push to become a satellite state in the region. Also, the chapter looks at three areas that are in need for further research, not only in terms of qualitative analysis but especially in terms of quantitative research. Among the knowledge-gaps identified include the need for theoretical models that could be used as predictive indicators for those prone to radicalisation, the need to understand the role of ideology and the need for cross cutting research to understand radicalisation in the respective three countries. The final chapter is predicated on a needs-analysis study, based on the research findings in the three countries. The needs-analysis points to the need for a comprehensive framework to develop and disseminate an effective and robust counter-narrative that has the ability to debunk the narrative composed and disseminated by Daesh. Based on this, the study proposes a '4-Step Counter-Narrative Developmental Model' that seeks to develop four main pillars for an effective counternarrative to function. These four components include research networks, resource centres, training and dissemination hubs and monitoring groups. The study ends with recommendations for 'value-based needs' in the region, which includes the need for passion, creativity and coordination, without which there can be little success against an organisation like Daesh. Details: Lampur, Malaysia: The Southeast Asia Regional Centre for Counter-Terrorism (SEARCCT), 2016. 170p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 2, 2017 at: https://www.searcct.gov.my/images/PDF_My/publication/Monograph-Daesh-By-Mr-Thomas.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Asia Keywords: Extremist Groups Shelf Number: 147028 |
Author: United Nations Office of Drugs and Crime Title: Trafficking in persons from Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar to Thailand Summary: The present report, "Trafficking in persons from Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar to Thailand" is the result of a partnership between the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and the Thailand Institute of Justice (TIJ). In 2016, TIJ invited UNODC to collaboratively develop an extensive research report on trafficking in persons from Cambodia, Lao PDR and Myanmar to Thailand with the objectives of increasing evidence-based information relating to trafficking in persons, reviewing the current state of knowledge, identifying existing information gaps and enhancing the capacity of States to generate, access and use information on trafficking in persons. This report is the first of its kind and marks the launch of an ongoing research and strategic policy partnership between UNODC and TIJ. Previous UNODC reports on trafficking in persons have covered the subject of trafficking to Thailand as one important flow in a region rife with trafficking cases. Previous reports have explored trafficking primarily from a law enforcement perspective and highlighted the need for strengthened legal frameworks, law enforcement responses, including the need for proactive investigations, and stronger criminal justice frameworks. This report, while emphasising the way forward in preventing and combating trafficking to Thailand, also explores the many facets of the trafficking phenomenon itself, including the profiles of victims and traffickers, the contemporary push and pull factors for trafficking, the routes taken by regular and irregular migrants to Thailand, the fees paid to smugglers and traffickers and the modi operandi of traffickers and their networks. Drawing on the available literature and qualitative data collected through interviews with experts in the four target countries (Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar and Thailand) the report presents in detail the current picture of trafficking in persons to Thailand and highlights challenges and opportunities for combating trafficking. While gaps in information remain and the overall picture remains incomplete, the findings presented in this report rely on a solid evidence base and may be useful for researchers, policy makers, governments and others interested in improving the response to combating trafficking, as well as approaches to identifying and supporting victims. The report consists of six chapters. The introduction (Chapter I) presents information on the topic covered, the background and context of the study, the study's purpose and goals, and methodology. Chapters II to IV examine the levels and characteristics of trafficking in persons in Cambodia (Chapter II), Lao PDR (III), and Myanmar (IV). Each of these chapters follows an identical structure by (1) summarising the available data, (2) exploring the causes of trafficking in persons, (3) examining the different types of trafficking and the profile of victims, (4) documenting the means and routes used for trafficking to Thailand, (5) analysing the exploitation of victims by their traffickers and (6) exploring the profile of the traffickers and trafficking networks. Details: Bangkok: UNODC, 2017. 261p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 7, 2017 at: https://www.unodc.org/documents/southeastasiaandpacific/Publications/2017/Trafficking_in_persons_to_Thailand_report.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Trafficking Shelf Number: 147139 |
Author: U.S. General Accounting Office Title: Combating Wildlife Trafficking: Agencies Are Taking Action to Reduce Demand but Could Improve Collaboration in Southeast Asia Summary: In the United States, China, and countries in Southeast Asia, there is diverse demand for illegally traded wildlife, according to data, reports, and various officials. The Department of the Interior's (Interior) U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service (FWS) has seized a variety of wildlife at U.S. ports, such as coral for aquariums, conch meat for food, seahorses for medicinal purposes, and crocodile skin for fashion items. In China and Southeast Asian countries, reports and officials have identified seizures and consumption of illegally traded wildlife products such as rhino horn, elephant ivory, pangolins (shown below), turtles, and sharks, among others, used for purposes such as food, decoration, pets, or traditional medicine. U.S. agencies are taking actions designed to reduce demand for illegal wildlife, including building law enforcement capacity and raising awareness, but disagreement on roles and responsibilities has hindered some combating wildlife trafficking (CWT) activities in Southeast Asia. FWS inspects shipments in the United States and facilitates law enforcement capacity building with partner nations overseas. The Department of State (State) conducts diplomatic efforts, some of which contributed to a joint announcement by China and the United States to implement restrictions on both countries' domestic ivory trade. The U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID) works with local organizations abroad to support programs intended to reduce wildlife demand, strengthen regional cooperation, and increase law enforcement capacity. Several other agencies also contribute expertise or resources to support various demand reduction activities. Certain practices can enhance and sustain collaborative efforts, such as establishing joint strategies, defining a common outcome, and agreeing on roles and responsibilities. GAO found that agencies applied the first two practices but could improve with regard to agreement on roles and responsibilities in Southeast Asia. For example, although the National Strategy for Combating Wildlife Trafficking Implementation Plan designates various Task Force agencies to lead or participate in achieving CWT strategic priorities, it does not define specific roles and responsibilities at the working level. Agencies have different views on roles and responsibilities in Southeast Asia. According to some officials, this disagreement resulted in inappropriate training activities and hindered U.S. cooperation with a host nation. More clearly defining roles and responsibilities would enhance agency collaboration. Details: Washington, DC: GAO, 2017. 78p. Source: Internet Resource: GAO-18-7: Accessed October 13, 2017 at: https://www.gao.gov/assets/690/687709.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Asia Keywords: Illicit Wildlife Trade Shelf Number: 147671 |
Author: UN Women Title: Estimating Costs of Marital Violence in the Arab Region: Operational Model Summary: The economic impact of violence against women (VAW), in particular, marital violence, is unexplored in the Arab region. ESCWA and UN Women are collaborating in this regard, in keeping with international calls to protect women from all forms of violence, and the resolution by the Committee on the Status of Women (CSW) noting the limiting effect of violence on women's economic empowerment. Part of the first phase of the regional project entitled "Estimating the cost of violence against women", this report elaborates the basic economic model and options to estimate the costs of intimate partner violence (IPV). It comprises five sections. Section one presents an overview of the type of costs that constitute the total economic cost of violence. Section two elaborates approaches to costing, distinguishing between the cost of action and inaction as two distinct approaches, and discusses the factors that need to be considered when deciding the best economic costing model. Section three outlines the costing model for the region and section four discusses putting the model into operation, with specific options for estimating individual and household costs, the annual cost of service provision, business costs and national macro costs. Conclusions and key recommendations are included in section five. The report focuses on three different entry points for costing marital violence in the region, by establishing the costs for individual women and their households, businesses, and government and other civil society actors in providing services. Any entry point will produce only a partial estimate, but over time, and as information systems become more robust, comprehensive estimates can be produced. The report concludes, however, that a useful first approximation is the monetary costs incurred by women, such as out-of-pocket expenditure to mitigate the consequences of violence, as well as missed opportunities for paid and unpaid work, productivity loss measured through presenteeism (turning up for work when unwell), and missed education for women and children. This partial estimate can lead to an estimate of the monetary cost for women and their families, and the cost of inaction at the national level. Details: Beirut: United Nations, 2017. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 16, 2017 at: https://www.unescwa.org/sites/www.unescwa.org/files/publications/files/estimating-costs-marital-violence-operational-model-english.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Asia Keywords: Costs of Violence Shelf Number: 147685 |
Author: UN Women Title: Status of Arab Women Report 2017 Violence Against Women. What Is at Stake? Summary: The study focuses on intimate partner violence and particularly on its economic costs. It reviews evidence-based knowledge and provides in-depth understanding of the human rights and socioeconomic consequences of intimate partner violence in the Arab region. It examines the linkages between intimate partner violence and social, economic and health related factors. It highlights the importance of estimating the costs of intimate partner violence as an innovative approach and an advocacy tool to address the heightened implications of this phenomenon. Details: Beirut: United Nations, 2017. 100p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 16, 2017 at: https://www.unescwa.org/sites/www.unescwa.org/files/publications/files/arab-women-report-violence-against-women-english.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Asia Keywords: Costs of Violence Shelf Number: 147686 |
Author: United Nations Children's Fund Title: Harmful Connections: Examining the relationship between violence against women and violence against children in the South Pacific Summary: Violence against women (VAW) is widely condemned as a fundamental violation of human rights and is recognized as a significant public health problem, causing enormous social harm and costs to national economies (WHO, 2013: 2). It is also widely acknowledged that such violence has an effect on children (Fulu, E et.al., 2013: 5). This report is a literature review that aims to develop a deeper understanding of what is known about the connection between violence against women and violence against children (VAC) in the South Pacific Island countries. It consolidates existing evidence from studies on the intersections between VAW and VAC and focuses specifically on Fiji, Kiribati, Samoa, Solomon Island, Tonga and Vanuatu. The review provided an opportunity to conduct a robust comparative analysis of the data at different levels including country-level analysis. For the purpose of this review, the term 'violence against women' means "any act of gender-based violence that results in, or is likely to result in, physical, sexual or psychological harm or suffering to women, including threats of such acts, coercion or arbitrary deprivation of liberty, whether occurring in public or private life" (UN, 1993). The review draws from definitions from the United Nations Secretary-General's Study on Violence against Children which is used as an overall framework for addressing VAC. The term 'child' refers to "every human being below the age of 18 years" and the term 'violence against children' refers to all forms of physical, mental violence, injury and abuse, neglect or negligent treatment, maltreatment and exploitation, including sexual abuse as the intentional use of physical force or power, threatened or actual, against a child, by an individual or group, that either results in or has a high likelihood of resulting in actual or potential harm to the child's health, survival, development or dignity" (UNSG, 2006: 6) Details: Suva, Fiji: UNICEF Pacific, 2015. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 13, 2017 at: https://www.unicef.org/pacificislands/Harmful_Connections(1).pdf Year: 2015 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Sexual Abuse Shelf Number: 148156 |
Author: Krejsa, Harry Title: Phishing in Troubled Waters: Confronting Cyber Espionage Across the Pacific and the Strait of Taiwan Summary: Because China's two chief targets of strategic attention are the United States and Taiwan, they are understandably also Beijing's chief targets of cyberattack and espionage. Both countries have high-skilled economies with open, democratic systems, and Washington and Taipei unfortunately possess comparable vulnerabilities to cyberattacks. Facing similar threats and suffering from similar weaknesses, the United States and Taiwan should collaborate on developing shared solutions. This report analyzes the asymmetric nature of cyber capabilities that make the United States and Taiwan so attractive for Chinese strategic planners. It examines the immense costs - tangible and intangible - that have been borne by the United States and Taiwan as a result of Chinese cyber intrusions so far. The diffuse nature of these costs also explains why the private sector has not yet been able or willing to fully develop the technologies and practices necessary to significantly hinder these attacks. Because of poor private-sector incentives to confront cybersecurity more directly, interventions and initiatives by the U.S. and Taiwanese governments will increasingly be necessary. This will require thinking about cybersecurity more as a domain of conflict requiring continuous attention and strategic analysis than as a singular issue to be mitigated with ad hoc policy tweaks. Washington and Taipei will need to approach the shared threat of Chinese cyber capabilities collaboratively, but also innovatively. Cyber threats will not be mitigated through traditional templates of bilateral cooperation, whether they are joint production agreements or memoranda of understanding on information sharing. Rigorous real-world exercises to identify existing gaps in capabilities and gauge progress over time on rectifying them, and more specialized government-to-government contacts must be developed through the Department of Homeland Security and its Taiwanese counterparts. International public-private partnerships will be a necessary start - with the crucial supplement of learning about confronting asymmetric threats strategically from successful counterterrorism initiatives. This administration has already shown a willingness to nudge U.S.-Taiwan relations beyond what has previously been considered politically palatable - which may augur well for such experimentation in cyber collaboration. Details: Washington, DC: Center for a New American Security, 2017. 20p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 17, 2017 at: https://s3.amazonaws.com/files.cnas.org/documents/CNASReport-Taiwan-Cyber-Final.pdf?mtime=20170323140311 Year: 2017 Country: Asia Keywords: Counter-Terrorism Shelf Number: 148214 |
Author: Youngman, Mark Title: 'Russian-Speaking' Fighters in Syria, Iraq and at Home: Consequences and Conflict Summary: Despite its early and spectacular successes in Syria and Iraq, the Islamic State (IS) has, over the last year, suffered repeated setbacks that have weakened its ability to control captured territory and implement its state-building agenda. A key aspect of ISs strategy has been the mobilisation of supporters across Russia and the former Soviet Union. Other rebel groups in Syria have also attracted support from these areas, illustrating the need for a proper understanding of the Russian-speaking militant milieu, beyond ISs territorial claims. The report shows that: Islamic State has established a patchy toehold in Russia, in particular by linking up with a much-weakened domestic insurgency This has lead to a wave of incidents, including an attack in Derbent, Dagestan in December 2015, and an attack in December 2016 in Grozny, Chechnya. Whilst other incidents have been attributed to IS, many of these have been rudimentary attacks The terrorist threat facing Russia is not reducible to IS. Details: Lancaster, UK: Center for Research and Evidence on Security Threats (CREST), Department of Psychology, Lancaster University, 2017. 48p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 1, 2017 at: https://crestresearch.ac.uk/resources/russian-speaking-fighters-full-report/ Year: 2017 Country: Asia Keywords: Foreign Fighters Shelf Number: 148685 |
Author: Rangarajan, Rohini Title: Understanding the Motivations for Illegal Hunting: Creating Typologies of Hunters in Southeast Asia Summary: Illegal hunting of wildlife continues to be one of the biggest threats to wild populations globally. It has threatened the survival of many species, as well as affecting biodiversity and ecosystem processes. The hunted species, more often than not, end up being traded in domestic and international markets. Southeast Asia is an important hub for this illegal hunting and trade. Studies on poaching in this region have, till now, focused on identifying which species are being hunted and traded. The purpose of this study is to review and synthesize these studies, to provide an understanding of the motivations of poaching in Southeast Asia. It was found that hunters in Southeast Asia primarily hunt for commercial gains and for subsistence. In addition, a new driver for illegal hunting was found for the region, namely traditional medicine. The scale of hunting for each of these drivers, however, still remains ambiguous. Additionally, loopholes in national laws were uncovered, which make implementation of these laws ineffective. Despite a greater awareness amongst researchers on the issue, the number of studies providing quantifiable data still remains small. The results of this study can help design more effective conservation programs for the region. Details: Singapore: National University of Singapore, 2016. 63p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed January 20, 2018 at: https://scholarbank.nus.edu.sg/bitstream/10635/134469/1/final%20thesis_Amended.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Asia Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 148895 |
Author: Nowell, Kristin Title: An Ounce of Prevention: Snow Leopard Crime Revisited Summary: Snow Leopard poaching and trafficking - referred to herein as Snow Leopard crime - is revisited 13 years after TRAFFIC's first report on the subject, Fading Footprints: The Killing and Trade of Snow Leopards (Theile, 2003). This report builds on a preliminary analysis published in May 2016 (Maheshwari and von Meibom, 2016). It addresses a major information gap concerning the linkage between retaliatory killing for livestock depredation and poaching for trade, and the scale at which both are taking place. The focus is on 12 Snow Leopard range countries: Afghanistan, Bhutan, China, India, Kazakhstan, the Kyrgyz Republic, Mongolia, Nepal, Pakistan, Russia, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan. There is little evidence of illegal trade in Snow Leopards outside these countries. Two sets of data were developed in the research for this report. The first is a Snow Leopard crime database containing records of seizures (legal actions taken by government authorities) and observations (reports of Snow Leopard killing, capture or trade, including market surveys). The database contains records dating back to 1989 (which are discussed in Annex 1), but the analysis focuses on the period since the release of Fading Footprints, the first TRAFFIC report: 2003-June 2016. Seizures are a function of law enforcement effort, effectiveness and publicization, as well as the magnitude of illegal trade, and so observations are an important component of the analysis, particularly for countries where few seizures are made or reported. However, detailed observations are not regularly published, and may be are biased toward countries where there is more effort, so a simple multiple choice survey was designed for Snow Leopard experts. Completed by 42 of them in 2016, and covering all 12 range countries, the survey asked experts for their total number of known cases, case outcomes, and reasons for killing Snow Leopards. Based on the average number of cases known to experts over the average of nine years spent working in their geographic areas of knowledge, 221-450 Snow Leopards were estimated to have been poached annually since 2008. With the average rate of poaching detection estimated by experts at less than 38%, these numbers could be substantially higher. Of these, 55% are killed in retaliation for livestock depredation, 21% killed for trade and 18% taken by non-targeted methods such as snares. Although retaliatory killing is estimated to account for roughly half of Snow Leopard poaching (55%), experts estimate that there is a 50-50 chance (48%) that a poaching attempt will take place after a depredation incident. On average, experts estimate that 60% of retaliatory and non-targeted poaching incidents result in an attempt to sell; accounting for differences in this estimate between countries, a total of 108-219 Snow Leopards potentially enter into illegal trade. Over 90% of annual Snow Leopard poaching is estimated to occur in five range countries: China (103-236), Mongolia (34-53), Pakistan (23-53), India (21-45) and Tajikistan (20-25). Given the uncertainties about population numbers, as well as the low rate of poaching detection, it is difficult to assess the impact of this offtake on the viability of the species. Snow Leopard range is used as a proxy for Snow Leopard population numbers; most national Snow Leopard population estimates are derived from extrapolating study site densities across likely range. Although China had by far the highest number of seizures and observations (309 Snow Leopards from 2003-2016) and the highest annual poaching estimate, its share of Snow Leopard crime was not disproportionate to its large share (at least 60%) of Snow Leopard range. Countries flagged for having disproportionate shares of crime levels relative to share of range included Afghanistan and Russia (seizures and observations), and Nepal and Pakistan (annual poaching estimates). China and Russia were most frequently identified as destinations for animals poached in other countries. The expert survey indicates that the scale of Snow Leopard crime is more serious than apparent from the annual average number of Snow Leopard seized (18) or observed (34) from 2003-2016. This could be in part due to the challenges of law enforcement in the Snow Leopard's remote montane habitat. Indeed, the survey found that an average of 23% of known cases were investigated by authorities, and only 14% prosecuted. The minimum number of Snow Leopards in the seizures and observations database fell by 43% from the first half of the analysis period (2003-2009) compared to the second (2010-June 2016) (from 451 to 259). However, the decline was in the number of Snow Leopards observed in trade and in market surveys, which fell by 80% (from 280 to 54), with the largest decline taking place in China. There were more market surveys in the first half of the analysis period (13) than the second (5), but they were repeated in the same places (Kabul, Afghanistan and cities in western China), and far fewer skins were seen (for example, 60 skins in the Chinese city of Linxia in 2007, compared to one in 2011). The numbers of Snow Leopards in other observations were roughly equivalent for the two periods (108 in the first and 100 in the second), but the numbers in trade observations fell by 46% (from 52 to 28). Otherwise, the number of Snow Leopards seized rose by 16% (from 115 to 133), and the number of individual seizure cases rose by 77% (from 44 to 78). The number of poached Snow Leopards seized doubled (from 31 to 60), and the observed number of poached Snow Leopards also increased by 14% (from 56 to 64). The number of Snow Leopards in trade seizures was the same in both periods (55), and the number smuggled roughly equivalent (29 seized in the first period, and 24 seized and observed in the second). There are three possible interpretations of this situation of rising numbers of Snow Leopards poached (as measured by seizures and observations), steady numbers in smuggling and trade seizures, and steeply declining numbers in trade observations and market surveys. It could be that the limitations of available data and the authors' inability to collect all of it has resulted in an incorrect picture. It is apparent that illegal trade has become more clandestine and difficult to detect in most countries, so that secondly, it could be increasing, as indicated by the apparent rise in poaching numbers. However, the number of Snow Leopards seized in large cases (more than 3 Snow Leopards per case), indicative of organized trafficking activity, declined from 60 in the 2003- 2009 to 23 in 2010-2016. This points to a third possibility: that trade (and perhaps demand) is declining, possibly due to increased enforcement, but local people continue to opportunistically sell Snow Leopards they poached primarily to protect livestock. With skins being the main Snow Leopard product type in trade (78%), the primary motive for buyers appears to be for display, with some observations of skins hanging on walls in homes and restaurants, as well as stuffed taxidermy specimens. Priced in the thousands of US dollars, skins have been described as a "symbol of wealth and power." However, there probably exists very little in the way of a definable consumer segment deliberately seeking out such items. They are most likely purchased opportunistically - "impulse buys" - and most consumers probably only buy one in their lifetime. Once in a home, the illegal possession has very low probability of detection, and moreover law enforcement authorities may be reluctant to investigate in such situations. The purchase itself also has a low probability of detection, as indicated by the sharp decline in observed numbers of Snow Leopard skins being offered for sale. While growing personal wealth in Asia has been highlighted as a primary driver of illegal wildlife trade, poverty is also recognized as a driver, and the Snow Leopard trade may be more driven by rural people in Snow Leopard habitat attempting to make money and make up for livestock losses to predators than by wealthy people placing orders for luxury household decorations. Unlike the demand-driven Tiger trade (Annex 2), to which it otherwise bears many similarities, the market for Snow Leopards may be more a function of supply, and actions should focus on the communities living near Snow Leopards to reduce incentives to poach and sell. This notion is reflected in the aphorism behind the title of this report: an ounce of prevention equals a pound of cure. Preventing livestock losses, offsetting the costs of losses and improving community support for Snow Leopard conservation are the most important approaches to tackling the problem of Snow Leopard trafficking. Recommendations focus on addressing the leading cause of Snow Leopard poaching (retaliatory killing/Human-Wildlife Conflict) as well as measures to stem illegal trade, and are primarily targeted at the 12 Snow Leopard range countries. They are aligned with existing recommendations and planned actions, including CITES recommendations, draft Decisions and consultant's reports around implementation of Resolution Conf. 12.5 (CITES 2015, 2016; Nowell and Pervushina, 2014); the Global Snow Leopard and Ecosystem Protection Program (GSLEP, 2013, 2015, n.d.); the SLN's Snow Leopard Survival Strategy (SLN, 2014); and WWF's Snow Leopard Species Action Plan (WWF, 2015 and Sharma, 2016). There was also an informal discussion about recommendations to address poaching and illegal trade at the Second China Snow Leopard Forum, held in Urumqi, Xinjiang province 24-26 August 2016 (B. Weckworth, Panthera, pers. comm.). Recommendations are grouped according to four primary actors in Snow Leopard conservation: 1) governments of Snow Leopard range countries; 2) communities living in Snow Leopard range; 3) conservation organizations and Snow Leopard experts; and 4) donor governments and agencies. Details: Cambridge, UK: TRAFFIC, 2016. 72p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed February 20, 2018 at: http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/157301/27298294/1476983224237/Snow-Leopard-Report.pdf?token=T02BnNWJegN09EuV13Ex81B0obk%3D Year: 2016 Country: Asia Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 149187 |
Author: Avon Global Center for Women and Justice at Cornell Law School Title: Combating Acid Violence in Bangladesh, India, and Cambodia Summary: Acid violence involves intentional acts of violence in which perpetrators throw, spray, or pour acid onto victims' faces and bodies. This report examines acid violence in Bangladesh, India, and Cambodia from an international human rights perspective. Using this framework, it identifies the causes of acid violence and suggests practical solutions to address them. Acid violence is prevalent in these countries because of three related factors: gender inequality and discrimination, the easy availability of acid, and impunity for acid attack perpetrators. Acid violence is gender-based violence that reflects and perpetuates the inequality of women in society and as such is prohibited by international laws. To eradicate acid violence, governments must address its root causes - inequality and discrimination against women. In the short-term, governments should take the following steps to address acid violence: (1) enact laws that adequately punish perpetrators of attacks and limit the easy availability of acid; (2) enforce and implement those laws; and (3) provide redress to victims, including compensation for health care costs. Bangladesh is the only country among the three countries studied to adopt specific criminal laws and procedures relating to acid attacks and to enact particular laws to curb the easy availability of acid. Neither Cambodia nor India has adopted such legislation. Since Bangladesh adopted these laws in 2002, the rate of acid violence has decreased by 15% to 20%, while reported acid attacks continue to rise in Cambodia and India. Details: Ithaca, NY: Cornell University, 2011. 72p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 14, 2018 at: http://www.ohchr.org/Documents/HRBodies/CEDAW/HarmfulPractices/AvonGlobalCenterforWomenandJustice.pdf Year: 2011 Country: Asia Keywords: Acid Violence Shelf Number: 149567 |
Author: ECPAT International Title: Regional Overview: The Sexual Exploitation of Children in Southeast Asia Summary: Southeast Asia has a booming economy and is undergoing impressive growth in a number of sectors. For example, the region has one of the world's fastest growing internet markets, currently with 260 million users and a projected 480 million users by 2020. Mobile connections account for 130% of the population. The continued growth of international arrivals in the region is largely due to increasing numbers of intra-regional and inter-regional tourists and travelers. According to data of the UNWTO, Thailand recorded the world's highest growth in international tourist receipts in 2016. Such developments should result in positive changes in the lives of children - and indeed, significant progress has been made on a number of child rights indicators in the region. Nevertheless there is a dark and disturbing downside to this growth. The proliferation of the internet and related communication technologies has significantly expanded opportunities for child sex offenders to plan their travel, to communicate anonymously with other child sex offenders, to access, produce and disseminate child sex abuse images, and to engage in online sexual encounters with children without them even having to leave their homes. As technology evolves, forms and modus operandi of exploitation also evolve. The rapid growth in travel and tourism increases the number of children vulnerable to sexual exploitation. In the pursuit of economic development, a number of Southeast Asian countries have allowed large-scale foreign investment in tourism and other sectors and the proliferation of Special Economic and Free Trade Zones. These positive economic developments often are accompanied by the building of casinos and entertainment venues including bars and brothels, which can be high-risk locales for children. This report highlights both the domestic and international dimension of the sexual exploitation of children. The vast majority of child sex offenders in Southeast Asia are nationals of the countries of the region, the victims primarily girls. Yet emerging evidence also suggests that a considerable numbers of boys are abused and that foreign child sex offenders are increasingly accessing children through voluntary or professional positions in schools, orphanages, and child care centres Details: Bangkok: ECPAT, 2017. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 16, 2018 at: http://www.ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/02/Regional-Overview_Southeast-Asia.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Pornography Shelf Number: 149499 |
Author: ECPAT International Title: Regional Overview: Combating The Sexual Exploitation of Children in South Asia: Evolving Trends, Existing Responses and Future Priorities Summary: This report offers an overview of the sexual exploitation of children (SEC), including in its commercial forms (CSEC), as it emerges in the eight countries that form South Asia - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Maldives, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka - and are members of SAARC, the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation. A special focus is placed on three manifestations characterising the regional context, namely, online child sexual exploitation (OCSE), SEC in travel and tourism (SECTT) and SEC in child, early and forced marriage (CEFM). Research studies and regular data generation on issues relating to child sexual abuse and exploitation are scanty in the region because of the cultural sensitivity around the problem and lack of regular programme monitoring systems. This study seeks to offer an overview of the situation of children at risk or victims of SEC on the basis of existing evidence by - Exploring emerging socio-economic drivers compounding the problem; - Analysing the main manifestations of SEC in the specific regional context; - Reviewing the policy and legal responses that enable or, to the contrary, hinder child protection and safety, further calling attention to persisting gaps; and - Finally proposing a set of actions necessary to move forward in the fight against sexual violence against children in South Asia. In 2014, ECPAT had produced a similar document titled The Commercial Sexual Exploitation of Children in South Asia. Developments, Progress, Challenges and Recommended Strategies for Civil Society. The present situation analysis not only provides an update of the earlier study, but also a new perspective on the problem. It investigates the various issues relating to SEC from the point of view of a society taking a new development path and undergoing a phase of fast and profound transformation. The point of observation is that of a complex change encompassing substantial economic growth, rapid urbanisation and migration. Increased wealth and mobility, together with the fast penetration of information and communication technologies, are offering unprecedented opportunities to the young generations of South Asians and opening new windows on the rest of the world. The same transformations, however, also expose young people to the risks typically associated with modern living, lifestyles and worldviews. Section 1 of the report, the Introduction, seeks to sketch the backdrop against which SEC is occurring in South Asia as the new does not necessarily replace the old, but rather leads to a stratification of pre-existing and recent manifestations of sexual abuse, exploitation and violence. South Asia is a land of contrasts. As the region is poised to become, with the rest of Asia, the largest global market of the future, a sizeable portion of its population still lives in subsistence economies and traditional communities. The region ranks at the very top globally in a number of significant areas. Economically, South Asia is the fastest growing region worldwide; socially, it is leading the urbanisation of the planet (with the rest of Asia and Africa); and technologically, India alone is one of the three markets with the highest numbers of mobile accounts among young people in the South of the world. However, despite such impressive progress, globally the region still accounts for the largest concentration of people living in absolute poverty; displays some of the worst human development outcomes in areas such as healthcare, schooling and per capita expenditure or income; hosts the majority of modern slaves trapped in forced prostitution, forced marriage, forced labour and organ trafficking; is home to the largest number of child brides and child labourers; is responsible for the bulk of the out-of-school children (together with West Asia and sub-Saharan Africa); and, jointly with Sub-Saharan Africa, accounts for over three quarters of child deaths caused by climate change in recent decades. If history is any guide, the constantly growing size and speed of human and financial flows in the absence of adequate protection policies for vulnerable populations may lead to a hike in sexual violence against children in the future. Research activities in the realm of SEC will need to increasingly focus on such influential trends to analyse how systemic change may impact the safety and protection of children by transforming the root causes of child abuse. Within this backdrop, Section 2 analytically reviews several manifestations of SEC as these emerge in a number of settings such as - Information and communication technologies, whose penetration in South Asia has been growing at a substantially faster pace than other kinds of infrastructure and services necessary for human development, while also, in parallel, rapidly multiplying risks relating primarily to the creation and trade of child sexual abuse material by perpetrators displaying a sexual interest in children, and to sexual harassment and extortion of children online by perpetrators generally known to the victims; - Travel and tourism, in the context of rising trends in international tourist arrivals, matched with a steady increase in domestic travellers who can now reach out to children in novel settings such as homestays or childcare institutions; - Child, early and forced marriage (CEFM), which local cultures may view as a form of protection from sexual harassment for adolescent girls rather than as a condition that can expose girls and women to life-long systematic sexual violence; - Child trafficking still persisting in South Asian countries, despite efforts in this area having been more systematised and institutionalised than in others over time; - Sexual exploitation of children (SEC), continuing in the context of the traditional sex trade and now evolving in technology-facilitated forms; - Child labour, often unrecognised as a vast reservoir for sexual exploitation, but in fact being a major channel to SEC, especially in certain occupations, such as domestic labour, widespread across South Asia; and - Humanitarian crises, conflicts and environmental disasters, which dramatically exacerbate the pre-existing vulnerabilities of children and weaken the capacity of poor communities to protect their families. Section 3 reviews existing legal, policy and programme responses being implemented at local, national and regional levels to address SEC in the areas highlighted in the previous section, while also seeking to identify major gaps and challenges. All South Asian countries have ratified the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and the Optional Protocol to the Convention on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography (OPSC), in addition to other important regional instruments (such as the SAARC Convention on Preventing and Combatting Trafficking in Women and Children for Prostitution, and the SAARC Convention on Regional Arrangements for the Promotion of Child Welfare in South Asia). However, the Palermo Protocol on Trafficking in Persons has been fully ratified by only Afghanistan, India, Maldives and Sri Lanka, while none of the SAARC countries has so far developed national legislation harmonised with the OPSC, specific laws addressing issues such as SECTT or OCSE, or substantive extraterritorial jurisdiction. Progressive policies have been designed in the areas of protection of children from sexual offences, trafficking, child labour and early marriage by most countries in the region, while initial attempts have been made to respond to online threats, mainly by setting up webbased portals aimed at spreading information on child trafficking, tracking down trafficked and missing children, and supporting confidential reporting. Lack of proper awareness, implementation and enforcement, however, emerges as the main challenge with regard to the implementation of policies and laws. In addition to efforts by governments, the growing South Asian private sector has also started contributing proactively, especially by adopting more stringent corporate social responsibility (CSR) guidelines. Its involvement in the realm of SEC, however, remains rather limited, especially with reference to the ICT and travel and tourism industries whose role in preventing harm by online and travelling child sex predators would be particularly relevant. Civil society organisations continue to play a key role in the fight against the various manifestations of SEC, although the scope of their interventions may be normally limited to the local level and not always receive adequate support or recognition by the government. Children's and young people's groups have become more active in combatting SEC, even though they need more opportunities to access sexuality education, enhance awareness about online and offline threats, and gain further agency. An important platform for coordination among the various partners involved is the South Asia Initiative to End Violence Against Children (SAIEVAC), a SAARC Apex body acting, since 2005, as an inter-governmental mechanism committed to promoting the rights and protection of children at the regional level. Especially relevant in the context of SEC has been the recent 4th SAIEVAC Ministerial Meeting, held from 9-11 May 2016 in New Delhi, which led to a joint commitment by SAARC Member States to frame a region-wide strategy with the aim of tackling the sexual of children, especially online, through trafficking, and in travel and tourism. Details: Bangkok: ECPAT, 2017. 168p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 16, 2018 at: http://www.ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/Regional-Overview_South-Asia.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Pornography Shelf Number: 149500 |
Author: Kragt, Marit E. Title: Supporting wildlife conservation by modelling the effectiveness of community-led poacher mitigation Summary: Illegal hunting and poaching are severely threatening biodiversity in Southeast Asia, especially those species that are rare or threatened. Management strategies to address this poaching problem include wildlife patrols that collect and remove wire snares. While studies exist that predict the impact of poaching on biodiversity loss, there are few studies that evaluate the effectiveness of policy strategies. We present a model that predicts how community-led poaching mitigation patrols could help wildlife conservation the Lao People's Democratic Republic (PDR). The results show that, without intervention, nearly all species will be poached to local extinction over the next 10 years. We show that, with increasing patrol effort, an increasing number of animals and species can be saved. However, there are diminishing returns from increased poaching effort, particularly in terms of species saved with rare species at most risk of extinction. This is the first time modelling has been undertaken to examine poacher-patrol interaction in the Southeast Asia region. The results-showing positive effect of patrol effort on the number of endangered species saved-are now being used to inform wildlife management policies in the Lao PDR, with implementation of villager-led patrols that support local communities and sustaining natural resources. Details: Paper presented at the 8th International Congress on Environmental Modelling and Software - Toulouse, France - July 2016. 9p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed march 20, 2018 at: https://scholarsarchive.byu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?referer=https://www.google.com/&httpsredir=1&article=1433&context=iemssconference Year: 2016 Country: Asia Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 149530 |
Author: Chng, Serene C.L. Title: Escalating Black Spotted Turtle Geoclemys Hamiltonii Trade in Asia: A Study of Seizures Summary: Illegal international trade of the Black Spotted Turtle in Asia has escalated over recent years and immediate action is required to stem the flow, a new TRAFFIC report has found. The attractive spotted visage of the Black Spotted Turtle Geoclemys hamiltonii may well be its downfall. The species is known to be traded for meat, medicine and pets, although TRAFFIC's research attributes the sudden rise in demand to the exotic pet trade. Over 1,960 animals were seized between January 2008 and March 2014. Of these, 95 per cent were confiscated in the final 15 months of that period. A seizure of another 230 turtles on May 14th underscored the seriousness of the threat. Royal Thai Customs officers in Suvarnabhumi International Airport found the turtles packed in unclaimed bags which had come in on a flight from Kolkata, India. Seizure information indicates that shipments of the turtles from Bangladesh, India and Pakistan transit through South-east Asian hubs such as Bangkok and are destined for East Asia, in particular Hong Kong. Most of the seizures are from passengers using commercial airlines concealing animals in their baggage. The majority of couriers caught were arrested but only two of the 22 cases recorded resulted in successful prosecutions. "Enforcement authorities' efforts to detect and apprehend smugglers are commendable, but a lack of follow-on investigations and prosecution is undoing their good work," said Dr Chris R Shepherd, Regional Director for TRAFFIC in Southeast Asia. The Black Spotted Turtle is protected under national laws in its range countries and is listed in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Flora and Fauna (CITES). All commercial international trade in this species is illegal. The report (PDF, 1.1 MB) recommends improving enforcement and prosecution through multilateral and multi-agency coordination. Timely and detailed reporting of seizures to the CITES Secretariat and in the media, together with the outcomes of successful prosecutions, are also urged. "Wildlife enforcement networks already exist in South and South-east Asia, but given the transnational operations of the criminal networks they are up against, the challenge is to ensure a fully co-ordinated global enforcement response to their activities is delivered," said Dr Yannick Kuehl, Regional Director for TRAFFIC in East and South Asia Next week, Viet Nam hosts the 9th Meeting of the ASEAN Wildlife Enforcement Network in Hanoi, at which Strategic Action Plan Development will be discussed, alongside the Special Investigations Group approach on key wildlife trafficking issues linking South-east Asia and other trading partners. "TRAFFIC hopes our targeted analysis of trafficking routes will assist the region's Wildlife Enforcement Networks in planning enforcement actions aimed at breaking the lines of supply and demand," said Shepherd. TRAFFIC's findings were released today, World Turtle Day, to highlight the plight of the Black Spotted Turtle and many other species of turtles worldwide, particularly those in Asia which are under threat mainly from habitat loss and over-exploitation for food, medicine and the exotic pet trade. "Turtle species are seriously threatened - nowhere more so than in Asia with 17 of the 25 most critically endangered tortoises and freshwater turtles on the IUCN Red List found in the region," said James Tallant, Senior Programme Officer - Species, IUCN Natural Resources Group, Asia. Details: Petaling Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia: TRAFFIC, 2014. 24p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed march 20, 2018 at: http://www.traffic.org/home/2014/5/23/alarming-rise-in-black-spotted-turtle-trade-across-asia.html Year: 2014 Country: Asia Keywords: Endangered Species Shelf Number: 149537 |
Author: Song, Jiyoung Title: Australia and the anti-trafficking regime in Southeast Asia Summary: Successive Australian governments have invested heavily in efforts to combat people smuggling and human trafficking in Southeast Asia. In 2002, Australia helped establish the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime, which it co-chairs with Indonesia.[1] Since its inception, progress has been made in efforts to establish a stronger anti-trafficking regime in the region. For example, nine of the ten member states of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) have strengthened their respective national anti-trafficking legislation. However, much work remains to be done. At the Sixth Bali Process Ministerial Conference on 23 March 2016, the Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi criticised the Process for its failure to address the Andaman Sea refugee crisis in 2015, sparked by the forced migration of thousands of Rohingyas fleeing Myanmar and Bangladesh.[2] When it was established in 2002, the Bali Process was a regional response to irregular migration, and was not intended to deal with forced migration of refugees. Nevertheless, Marsudis comments underline the need for regional efforts to tackle people smuggling and human trafficking to keep pace with the evolving situation in the region. The aim of this working paper is to assess the progress that has been made in establishing a stronger regime for tackling human trafficking in Southeast Asia and to highlight gaps in these efforts that might provide a focus for Australian assistance in the future. The paper begins with a brief overview of current trafficking trends in the region. It then assesses anti-trafficking legislation in force in all ASEAN member states. The final section of the paper identifies areas where Australia can help to further strengthen the anti-trafficking regime in the region. Details: Lowy Institute for International Policy, 2016. Source: Internet Resource: Working Paper: Accessed April 6, 2018 at: https://www.lowyinstitute.org/publications/australia-and-anti-trafficking-regime-southeast-asia Year: 2016 Country: Asia Keywords: Forced Labor Shelf Number: 149715 |
Author: Transparency International Title: Analysing Corruption in the Forestry Sector Summary: Corruption - the abuse of entrusted power for private gain - undermines good governance and the rule of law. Corruption in forestry further degrades the environment, threatens rural communities and robs the public of billions of dollars each year. Transparency International (TI) is committed to a society where corruption-free forest governance and sustainable management enable increased economic development, poverty reduction and environmental protection. To help achieve this objective, TI's Forest Governance Integrity (FGI) Programme monitors the existing anti-corruption instruments that bring about the greatest improvement in the forestry sector and in good governance overall. Each country's forestry sector is unique, as are each country's anti-corruption mechanisms - its laws and the initiatives led by government, the private sector and civil society. Therefore, in order to best use their human and financial resources, civil society organisations (CSOs) must prioritise which corrupt practices to monitor. Otherwise, the temptation is to try to monitor all corrupt practices, or at least those associated with current programmes. Given the limited resources most CSOs have this would be a logistical impossibility, but perhaps more important, it is vital that activists are critically selective in choosing targets that will provide the most effective impact in the long run. This manual outlines a generic methodology for prioritising the corrupt practices that pose the greatest risk to governance - i.e. those practices that are the most likely to occur and have the greatest impact. Interviews with key experts, supplemented by publicly available data, inform the rapid risk assessment, the results of which are validated through stakeholder consultation. Based on this priority setting, it will be possible to assess more thoroughly the corrupt practices that pose the highest risk. In a second step, expert analysis and stakeholder consultation then help identify the existing anti-corruption instruments that most efficiently tackle these priority practices. These anticorruption instruments then serve as the focus for TI's forestry programme - including its monitoring, outreach and advocacy. A greater understanding of corrupt practices in the forestry sector should help focus the public and decision-makers on generating the political will needed to tackle criminal activity associated with the forestry sector - activity which in many countries drastically reduces revenues that could be used for economic development. Details: Berlin: Forest Governance Integrity Programme, Transparency International, 2010. 102p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 24, 2018 at: https://www.transparency.org/whatwedo/publication/analysing_corruption_in_the_forestry_sector_a_manual Year: 2010 Country: Asia Keywords: Forest Law Enforcement Shelf Number: 150359 |
Author: Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) Title: Out in the cold - the ongoing threat of snow leopard trade Summary: Snow leopards continue to be threatened by habitat loss, conflict killing, prey loss and poaching for trade. Between 2008 and 2016, 220-450 snow leopards were killed and traded each year - an average of one per day. Since 2005, our investigators have uncovered the skins of at least 106 snow leopards for sale across western and central China, particularly in Linxia in Gansu Province. Investigations in 2016 confirmed that the trade is ongoing. Additional data from seizure reports suggest that aside from those skins offered to our investigators, there have been recorded seizures of 276 snow leopard skins since 2000, including 185 across India, Nepal and China and a further 85 across other Range States. Market for taxidermy and home decor Since 2007, the market for snow leopard skins has been geared towards the luxury furnishing and taxidermy sector, with specimens being prepared with head and paws intact or mounted on red backing fabric. This fits trends seen in the illegal tiger trade, where specimens seen by investigators are prepared for the luxury home dcor market. We have not gathered specific testimony on demographics of snow leopard consumers, although prices quoted for skins indicate that they are purchased by people of medium income to decorate their home, unlike the elite demographic purchasing tiger and leopard skins. Diverse markets for bone, meat and teeth "Leopard bone", including from snow leopard, appears to be offered as a substitute for tiger bone for medicinal purposes, or possibly sold to consumers as tiger bone. A traditional Chinese medicine product produced by a Beijing-based manufacturer and purchased in Australia in 2012 was found to contain snow leopard DNA on testing; this product would traditionally have contained tiger bone. Sales of meat were mentioned by a trader in 2016, and an unspecified amount of snow leopard meat was seized in Lhasa, October 2016. EIA investigators have also been offered snow leopard skulls and teeth. As with tiger and other big cats, these appear to be in demand for use as amulets and luxury jewellery. Details: London: EIA, 2018. 8p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 5, 2018 at: https://eia-international.org/the-ongoing-threat-of-snow-leopard-trade Year: 2018 Country: Asia Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 150475 |
Author: Roe, Benjamin Title: The Influence of Timber Legality Regulations on Chinese and Vietnamese Wood Products Manufacturers Summary: Reports that a substantial proportion of the wood raw materials used by Chinese and Vietnamese manufacturers are from illegal sources have drawn significant criticism from major consumer countries who have recently implemented timber legality regulations. These regulations, which include the Japanese 'Goho-wood' policy, the U.S. Lacey Act, the EU Timber Regulation and the Australian Illegal Logging Prohibition Act restrict the import of illegally harvested wood and are expected to have a direct impact on major wood processing countries such as China and Vietnam. Surveys were conducted at trade shows in Ho Chi Minh, Shanghai and Guangzhou in 2013 and 2014 to assess how these regulations influence attitudes and perceptions regarding regulations, firms' use of chain of custody certification, and impacts on the material sourcing and export market decisions of industry managers. Survey responses were evaluated using descriptive statistics, regression analyses, cluster analysis, non-metric multidimensional scaling and analysis of similarity. The analysis showed that as firms increase in size they reduce domestic sales and show increased awareness and support for regulation, and that firms' awareness of timber legality regulations plays a significant role in whether a firm decides to obtain certification. Analyses showed that Vietnamese firms have lower awareness of regulations while being more supportive of regulations. Chinese firms have higher awareness while having a more negative attitude towards regulations. The findings also highlighted a split between firms with a domestic focus and firms which export to foreign markets suggesting a split in the market which may reduce the impact of regulations. This segmenting of the Chinese market and to a lesser extent the Vietnamese market supports the idea that regulatory leakage is taking place, wherein sales of wood products from suspicious sources are shifting away from regulated markets and towards unregulated markets which are experiencing rapid increases in demand for wood products. Details: Seattle: University of Washington, 2015. 156p. Source: Internet Resource: Thesis: Accessed June 20, 2018 at: https://digital.lib.washington.edu/researchworks/bitstream/handle/1773/33936/Roe_washington_0250O_15130.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y Year: 2015 Country: Asia Keywords: Environmental Crimes Shelf Number: 150605 |
Author: Leupen, Boyd T.C. Title: Black Spotted Turtle Trade in Asia II: A Seizure Analysis (2014-2016) Summary: The Black Spotted Turtle Geoclemys hamiltonii, native to South Asia, is a heavily trafficked chelonian, despite the presence of national laws prohibiting local trade in the species throughout its range and despite its listing in Appendix I of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) in 1975, prohibiting all commercial international trade. A 2014 TRAFFIC study found that Black Spotted Turtle trade numbers had significantly increased between 2013 and 2014, with more than 1960 turtles seized in a total of 22 recorded incidents. This sudden escalation of the trade was a cause for concern and called for improved regulations and continued monitoring efforts. To understand the development of the Black Spotted Turtle trade since then, the current study was conducted, analysing seizures for the two-year period between April 2014 and March 2016. During this period, 53 Black Spotted Turtle seizures, involving a total of 10 321 specimens, have reportedly taken place. This constitutes more than two times the total number of seizures and more than five times the total number of specimens found in the 2014 study. Both the annual number of Black Spotted Turtle seizures and the annual number of specimens seized have approximately tripled between 2013 and 2015. Nevertheless, such efforts appear to vary among the different countries involved in the international Black Spotted Turtle trade chain. Black Spotted Turtle seizures were found to have taken place in 24 different locations in seven countries/territories, all of which are on the Asian continent. The highest number of seizures (n=20/38%) occurred in India, accounting for a total of 3001 (29%) specimens. These seizures occurred across the country, but appeared to be particularly abundant in the southern and eastern regions, with Chennai, a large city situated outside India's Black Spotted Turtle range, functioning as one of the country's most important collection and distribution hubs. A comparatively high number of seizures (n=12/23%) was also found to have occurred in Hong Kong SAR, accounting for a total of 1775 (17%) specimens. The Black Spotted Turtle trade is largely driven by East Asian demand. Shifting trends in China and Hong Kong SAR now indicate the species is desired as pets, where previously it was mainly sought after for its meat. These shifting trends are partly confirmed by the fact that all recorded seizures involved shipments of live animals (although in some cases large numbers of turtles were found to have died in transport). Black Spotted Turtles are primarily sourced in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh and subsequently transported to East Asia, often through Southeast Asian transit hubs, particularly Thailand and Malaysia. The scale of the Black Spotted Turtle trade in Southeast Asian countries appears to be modest, but it is likely that at least part of the shipments seized there are destined for local markets. Almost half of all seizure records involved air transportation using commercial flights (n=25/47%). During the research period, at least 55 suspects were apprehended by local authorities in 55% (n=29) of the recorded seizure incidents, mostly in India (32 suspects). Conviction rates appear to be low throughout the region, with 20% of arrests reportedly resulting in a confirmed conviction. Details: Selangor, Malaysia: TRAFFIC. Southeast Asia Regional Office, 2018. 42p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 20, 2018 at: http://static1.1.sqspcdn.com/static/f/157301/27916134/1527420095177/Black-Spotted-Turtle-Asia-II.pdf?token=hmbp%2F8%2B%2BQMIB49r1IA3tajjLp1E%3D Year: 2018 Country: Asia Keywords: Black Spotted Turtle Shelf Number: 150615 |
Author: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies Title: The responsibility to prevent and respond to sexual and gender-based violence in disasters and crises : research results of sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) prevention and response before, during and after disasters in Indonesia, Lao PDR and the Ph Summary: This report contributes new evidence on why and how sexual and gender-based violence (SGBV) risks increase during humanitarian disasters. It details how humanitarian actors can better prevent and respond to such escalation of SGBV, and better meet the needs of affected women, girls, men and boys. This research is based on community views of disaster-affected women, adolescent girls, men and adolescent boys in three South-East Asian countries: Indonesia, Lao PDR and the Philippines. This research directly contributes to Priority Programme 4: PROTECT of the ASEAN Agreement on Disaster Management and Emergency Response (AADMER) Work Programme 2016-2020 and calls for all members of the IFRC to strengthen implementation of the IFRC Minimum Standards on Protection, Gender and Inclusion in Emergencies (2018) and related protection standards. Data for this report was collected in two disaster affected sites in each of the three participating country locations , to: 1. Understand how SGBV affects women, girls, men and boys differently in all disaster affected ASEAN countries during and after disasters; 2. Map essential SGBV response services in the health, legal, security and psychosocial sectors, that remain functioning during a disaster; 3. Document how public authorities (including ASEAN coordinated response) and humanitarian actors (especially the Movement actors) have responded to disaster affected communities in the areas of SGBV prevention and response. Collect and document good practices but also recommend what could be done better. Local volunteers of the Lao Red Cross, Palang Merah Indonesia and Philippine Red Cross were trained to identify and conduct safe data gathering on SGBV issues in their communities. Through these local humanitarian actors, 1,779 disaster affected individuals (846 men and 933 women) participated in household surveys, 358 disaster affected individuals (83 adult men, 93 adult women, 91 adolescent boys and 89 adolescent girls) participated in the focus group discussions (FGDs) and 58 individuals shared perspectives in key informant interviews (KIIs), representing the health, legal, security and psychosocial sectors. Their voices, views, and needs are presented as a call to action. SGBV is an issue faced by all the communities. It is often life threatening and impacts a survivor's daily life, dignity, rights, livelihoods and health. SGBV during and after disaster situations and other emergencies is under-researched and largely ignored in policy circles. Few studies focus on low-income, developing countries and go beyond researching the gendered effects on women and girls of SGBV. Consequently, many humanitarian agencies not only overlook needs of females, but also completely overlook men, boys and sexual minority groups as SGBV survivors in their needs assessment, discussions with communities, during data collection and follow-up community-based and humanitarian response programming. Key findings in this research, illustrate that the risks of SGBV are exacerbated during disaster situations in Indonesia, Lao PDR and the Philippines and that "disaster responders" and actors addressing needs of SGBV survivors are not working together adequately to reduce these risks. This research shows that this is a trend applicable to other disaster contexts. Details: Geneva: International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, 2018. 115p Source: Internet Resource: Accessed July 31, 2018 at: http://media.ifrc.org/ifrc/wp-content/uploads/sites/5/2018/07/17072018-SGBV-Report_Final.pdf.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Asia Keywords: Disasters and Crime Shelf Number: 150984 |
Author: Taneja, Kabir Title: The ISIS Phenomenon: South Asia and Beyond Summary: The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), also known as Daesh and ISIL, has changed our understanding of terrorism and the ideologies that enable it to flourish. From the successful establishment of a proto-state in the Middle East, to the transnational reach of its propaganda to recruit disillusioned individuals with jihadist leanings-the ascent of the ISIS, though disturbing, has been unique. Today, even as the group no longer holds sweeping control over parts of Iraq and Syria, the ISIS ideology continues to survive. This monograph studies ISIS-its origins, modus operandi, and its influence in India and South Asia. Details: New Delhi: Observer Research Foundation, 2018. 100p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 14, 2018 at: https://www.orfonline.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/08/ORF_Monograph_ISIS_Final.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Asia Keywords: ISIS Shelf Number: 151127 |
Author: Mitaera, Jean Title: Cook Islands cultural concepts to inform family violence interventions and practice - Literature search Summary: Despite the growing incidence of family violence amongst Cook Islanders in Aotearoa New Zealand, practice interventions to support the safety and healing of Cook Islands victims, perpetrators and their families are promulgated from within western knowledge and theories of family violence. As well, these matters are further aggravated by the small number of Cook Islands family violence practitioners and the dearth of literature available to inform the design of interventions. Responding to these theoretical, practical and everyday family situations, this project identifies four pieces of Cook Islands literature, reviews and critiques each of them and the cultural concepts they present. The critique draws on Payne's (2014) three key elements of theory building: perspective, theory and model. An approach forward is recommended for designing culturally informed and relevant interventions. Details: Wellington, NZ: Ministry for Social Development, 2016. 26p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 16, 2018 at: https://www.msd.govt.nz/documents/about-msd-and-our-work/publications-resources/research/pacific/msd-cook-island-report-18-v4.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Asia Keywords: Family Violence Shelf Number: 151143 |
Author: Gilmore, Aideen Title: Rough Roads to Equality: Women Police in South Asia Summary: This report looks at the situation of women in policing in Bangladesh, India, the Maldives, and Pakistan. It is based on the premise that gender equality, besides being a value to be upheld in and of itself, is a necessary element for the police establishment to demonstrate if law enforcement is to be seen as genuinely impartial. Beyond this, it champions the inclusion of women in policing as there is little to support the myth that policing is a "man's work" alone. The report presents information on strategies and policies adopted by governments and police departments in the four countries to bring women on an equal footing, and also analyses what more needs to be done. Most importantly, it draws on the experience of women police personnel of different ranks in each country to give a glimpse of their realities, the challenges they face, and the larger institutional cultures and environments they work within. Details: New Delhi: Commonwealth Human Rights Initiative, 2015. 152p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 21, 2018 at: http://www.humanrightsinitiative.org/download/1449728344rough-roads-to-equalitywomen-police-in-south-asia-august-2015.pdf Year: 2015 Country: Asia Keywords: Female Police Officers Shelf Number: 151169 |
Author: Ne, Foo Yen Title: Human Trafficking: In the Shadows of the Law Summary: Almost two decades since the adoption of the UN Convention against Transnational Organised Crime, and specifically the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, especially Women and Children, the debates on addressing human trafficking have not veered far beyond questions of law enforcement efficacy. What makes law enforcement against human trafficking so challenging in the East Asia region? This NTS Insight examines the nature of international legal frameworks that address human trafficking and the way they influence regional and domestic anti-trafficking legislation in East Asia. It argues that human trafficking as a crime is often "hidden" from the one-size-fits-all anti-trafficking legal regime adopted in domestic or national settings. The report argues that drawing the crime of human trafficking out of the shadows is made difficult by (i) the ambiguous definition of human trafficking in international law; (ii) the disjuncture between human trafficking contexts in East Asia and what international anti-trafficking legal regimes seek to address. Details: Singapore: S Rajaratnam School of International Studies, Nanyang Technological University, Singapore, 2018. 10p. Source: Internet Resource: NTS Insight, No., IN18-06: Accessed August 29, 2018 at: https://www.rsis.edu.sg/rsis-publication/nts/human-trafficking-in-the-shadows-of-the-law/#.W4bEXuhKjcs Year: 2018 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Trafficking Shelf Number: 151299 |
Author: Flood, Michael Title: Working Together With Men: Final Evaluation Report Summary: Working Together with Men is an innovative violence prevention project based on community engagement and mobilisation. The Working Together With Men project aims to contribute to the prevention of violence against women by engaging men in Brimbank, Melbourne, to develop and implement primary prevention strategies in their local communities. It focuses on recruiting men from the community, training them, and then involving them in project planning in activities to prevent violence against women. This report describes the findings of an impact evaluation of the Working Together With Men project. Participatory evaluation (quantitative and qualitative) was conducted to examine the impact of the project on men's engagement in the primary prevention of violence against women. Details: Melbourne: HealthWest Partnership, 2018. 73p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 31, 2018 at: http://healthwest.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2018/05/Flood-Working-Together-with-Men-FINAL-evaluation-report-2018.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Asia Keywords: Abusive Men Shelf Number: 151319 |
Author: Global Witness Title: A Major Liability: Illegal Logging in Papua New Guinea Threatens China's Timber Sector and Global Reputation Summary: In 2016, PNG provided 29% of China's tropical log imports, making it the country's single largest supplier. But our investigation reveals how a large number of logging operations in Papua New Guinea (PNG) violate the law despite holding government-issued permits. China is the world's largest consumer and manufacturer of wood and wood products. Yet it has no regulation to keep illegal timber from entering its borders. The risk of illegal timber from countries like PNG flooding China's markets has the potential to damage its reputation and major trade relationships as buyers in the U.S. and EU, which ban illegal timber imports, take action to protect themselves. This trade has profound implications for PNG as well. 70% of the country is covered by forest ecosystems that are home to some of the world's rarest plants and animals. The forest is also central to the cultural traditions and livelihoods of PNG's eight million people. By continuing to import tropical timber from PNG on such a scale, China is driving the destruction of a vulnerable and ancient forest. In A Major Liability, we draw on satellite imagery to show hundreds of apparent violations of the country's Forestry Act in major logging operations - all of which hold government permits and all of which continue to export timber. Details: London: Global Witness, 2018. 19p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 7, 2018 at https://www.globalwitness.org/en/campaigns/forests/major-liability-illegal-logging-papua-new-guinea-threatens-chinas-timber-sector-and-global-reputation/ Year: 2018 Country: Asia Keywords: Deforestation Shelf Number: 151431 |
Author: Martin, Esmond Title: The South and South East Asian Ivory Markets Summary: The purpose of this study is to provide base line data on the ivory trade in the main markets of South and South East Asia in order that national governments, CITES officials and NGOs may assess the effectiveness of policies, laws and enforcement activities relating to the internal and international trade in ivory now and in the future. The information obtained by the investigators may also be used to infer what is happening in respect to the illegal killings of elephants in Asia. The two investigators, Esmond Martin and Daniel Stiles, carried out field-work from November 2000 to late March 2001, sponsored by Save the Elephants, in the most important towns and cities in the eight main countries dealing in ivory in South and South East Asia. Historical and contemporary data were collected on the price of raw tusks, number of ivory workshops, number of ivory craftsmen, number of shops selling ivory items, number of ivory items seen in these shops, types of ivory objects for sale, and retail prices for ivory items. Information was also obtained on the number of wild and domesticated elephants, the international and domestic trade routes for tusks, and the nationalities of the buyers of ivory objects. Below are the key findings of our report: - Wild elephant population in Cambodia, Laos and Vietnam from 1988 to 2000 have declined by over 80% in total from an estimated 6,250 to 1,510, largely due to the trade in ivory and other elephant products. Myanmar, with the largest wild elephant population left of the countries visited (estimated to be 4,820), has suffered a net loss of over a thousand elephants since 1990. - The main factors responsible for elephant poaching are the large economic return in selling tusks, the lack of paid jobs, poverty, and wide-spread corruption by the military and other government staff in poaching elephants and trading in their tusks. - The largest illegal movement of tusks from wild Asian elephants are those from Myanmar to Thailand, and from Laos and Cambodia to Vietnam. Many countries with ivory carving industries in the regions surveyed receive illegal raw Asian ivory from neighbouring countries. Thailand and to lesser extent Vietnam are the only countries in South and South East Asia surveyed that import raw African ivory. This is smuggled into Thailand in significant quantities, with the wholesale price in Thailand the same as for Asian ivory, though in Vietnam African ivory is somewhat cheaper. - Tusk tips from male domesticated elephants are an important source of ivory in Myanmar and Thailand as these countries have the largest numbers of domesticated elephants compared with the others surveyed, and pruning is relatively common. - From the 1980s to 2001 the wholesale price of Asian tusks has increased in all the countries surveyed due to the continued demand for worked ivory items and the greater shortage of ivory within the countries. Prices have, however, decreased from the mid-1990s to 2001 in Nepal, Myanmar and Cambodia. Mid-1990s data are not available for the other countries. - The average wholesale price for tusks in this study is over five times higher than in Africa (USD 250/kg versus USD 45/kg) due to the smaller quantities of ivory available and the greater demand. - None of the governments has proper legal control of the ivory trade within their boundaries Officials also take bribes in order to allow ivory to enter and leave their countries. - The number of ivory craftsmen has decreased sharply in South and South East Asia since the late 1980s and there is now none left in Singapore. - The quality of ivory workmanship has declined since the 1980s, with the possible exception of Myanmar. The growing middle classes in Asia are less discerning than earlier buyers and want cheaply-priced trinkets and jewellery as do the increasing numbers of package tourists from the west. - Worked ivory sales are illegal in Sri Lanka, Nepal, Laos and Vietnam. It is legal to sell worked ivory originating prior to a certain date in Singapore and Cambodia, and from domesticated elephants in Thailand. The only country without restrictions on selling worked ivory is Myanmar. - Over 105,000 ivory items were found for retail sale in the 521 shops in the 17 towns and cities in the eight countries surveyed. - By far the largest amount of the foreign worked ivory in the countries visited is from China. Since 1990, exports from China and imports of these ivory items have been mostly illegal. In Singapore almost all the worked ivory for sale is from China, and in Nepal over a third. The other countries visited have Chinese ivory items for sale, but much smaller amounts compared to locally carved ivory. - The main customers for ivory items in the major ivory markets of Thailand and Vietnam are tourists and businessmen from Europe (especially the French, Germans and Italians), Japan, Taiwan, Thailand, Singapore, China and USA in that order. The number of Asians buying ivory has increased proportionately in the last ten years. - Thailand has by far the largest domestic market for ivory items with over 80% of the total surveyed. The towns and cities with the largest number of ivory objects for sale are Phayuha Kiri, Bangkok, and Chiang Mai. Next are Yangon, Singapore, Mandalay, Ho Chi Minh City, Kathmandu, Vientiane and Hanoi in that order. The towns and cities visited in Sri Lanka have the least number of ivory items seen. - The highest quality worked pieces were seen in Singapore, which are mainly newer Chinese items, and in Bangkok, which are older Thai, Chinese, Japanese and other South East Asian pieces. - Over 85% of all the ivory items offered for sale is jewellery as these objects are in great demand being cheap and easy to smuggle. - For ivory items of similar quality and size, the highest retail prices by far are in Singapore because of the high costs of living. Although in the other places visited individual items vary greatly in price, the overall price of ivory items is much the same. - In Sri Lanka, Cambodia and Laos, elephant ivory items are very few because most ivory-coloured trinkets are made out of substitutes such as bones and resins as they are cheaper and more readily available. Some vendors attempt to sell the substitute materials as ivory, but generally this is not the case. - No trader, craftsman nor vendor mentioned the CITES sanctioned one-off sale of raw ivory from government held stocks in Zimbabwe, Botswana and Namibia to Japan in 1999, unlike a few ivory dealers in Africa who thought that this might lead to further opening up of the ivory trade. - The craftsmen and vendors in South and South East Asia are pessimistic about the future of the ivory business, except in Myanmar. Very few craftsmen are training younger people to continue the profession, apart from in Mandalay, where it is common for senior craftsmen to train apprentices. Details: Nairobi: Save the Elephants, 2002. 96p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 10, 2018 at: http://www.rhinoresourcecenter.com/index.php?s=1&act=pdfviewer&id=1415326386&folder=141 Year: 2002 Country: Asia Keywords: Animal Poaching Shelf Number: 151060 |
Author: United Nations Development Programme Title: Know Violence: Exploring the Links Between Violence, Mental Health, and HIV Risk Among Men who have Sex with Men and Transwomen in South Asia Summary: This report by UNDP, ICRW and APCOM Foundation explores the links between violence, mental health and HIV risk among men who have sex with men and transwomen in seven South Asian countries - Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. It is based on focus group discussions in 12 sites in 7 countries with men who have sex with men and transwomen who have direct experience of violence, as well as interviews with key informants from community-based organizations, health, law, and government. The report provides concrete recommendations to stakeholders across many sectors to mitigate and minimize the effects of violence on mental health and HIV vulnerabilities through programme and policy efforts. Details: Thailand, 2018. 132p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed September 14, 2018 at: http://www.asia-pacific.undp.org/content/rbap/en/home/library/democratic_governance/hiv_aids/know-violence--exploring-the-links-between-violence--mental-heal.html Year: 2018 Country: Asia Keywords: HIV Shelf Number: 151538 |
Author: TRAFFIC Title: Seeing Red: Precious Coral Trade in Central Asia Summary: There are more than 40 species in the family Coralliidae, which comprises three genera (Corallium, Hemicorallium and Pleurocorallium). Precious corals have been harvested and traded internationally since as early as pre-dynastic Egypt, valued by diverse cultures around the world. Precious corals in the Coralliidae family are distributed throughout the worlds tropical, subtropical and temperate oceans, but in only two areas, the Mediterranean Sea and the northern Pacific Ocean, are they commercially exploited. Their slow rate of renewal as well as the high demand because of their commercial and cultural importance have made Corallium corals vulnerable to over-exploitation. Concerns about over-exploitation and the impact of international trade on Corallium corals led to proposals to include the species in Appendix II of the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES) at the 14th Conference of the Parties (CoP14) in 2007 and CoP15 in 2010, which were rejected or withdrawn. Meanwhile, mainland China included four Corallium species, Aka Coral C. japonicum, Momo Coral C. (Pleurocorallium) elatius, White Coral C. (Pleurocorallium) konojoi and Angel Skin Coral C. (Pleurocorallium) secundum (hereafter referred to as CITES-listed Corallium corals) in CITES Appendix III, from 1st July 2008.Including a lack of knowledge about populations and their biology, and ongoing illegal harvest. In addition, recently there have been indications of rising demand and prices in mainland China, which has led to an increase in the trade price of raw materials in Japan and Taiwan POC where the species are harvested. However, there are still many knowledge gaps with regards to the current status of the trade and market of Corallium spp. harvested in East Asia. This report presents analysis, research findings, trade data and information into precious coral production, in an attempt to provide an overview of the changing trade in CITES-listed precious corals after the above mentioned species were listed in CITES Appendix III in 2008. Data sources used include global production data from the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the CITES Trade Database, Taiwan POCs CITES trade data, Customs statistics for Japan and Taiwan POC, in addition to literature and internet research, stakeholder interviews and physical market surveys. According to the CITES Trade Database and Taiwan POC CITES trade data, total global imports of CITESlisted raw Corallium corals were 210 t and ~80,000 pieces between 2011 and 2015. Imports of raw coral (by weight) reached ~145 t in 2011, after which imports declined considerably, with 5 to 15 t being traded during 20132015. Additionally, more than 20,000 pieces of raw coral were imported globally in both 2011 and 2012, although the annual number of imported raw corals has declined since 2013, with 4,6009,000 pieces being traded annually during 20132015. Therefore, the trade in raw coral imports during 20112015 appears to be declining. Of the total raw coral imports between 2011 and 2015, C. japonicum (Aka Coral) was the dominant species in trade, accounting for 61% by weight with ~129,000 kg and 37% by number of pieces with approximately 27,000 pieces. The main exporter of raw corals was Japan, by weight and number of pieces, although the quantities involved varied depending on the year. Taiwan POC was the main importer of raw CITES-listed Corallium corals between 2011 and 2015. Japan and Taiwan POCs Customs data suggest that the value per kilogramme of coral materials exported from Japan to Taiwan POC may have increased gradually from 2007 and reached a peak at around USD12,00012,700/kg in 2013, after which the price dropped in 2015 before increasing again in 2016 to around USD9,000/kg. Although CITES listings are sometimes said to lead to increased prices and illegal trade, it was not clear what impactif anythe CITES listing of Corallium corals, which came into effect in 2008, had on trade. The data analysed for this report show that the trade and demand for CITES-listed Corallium corals has changed over the last decade, but this is not fully reflected in the available CITES and other trade data. This could be due to a number of factors, including the inconsistent application of Appendix III CITES listings, unreported trade as personal or household effects, and illegal and unreported trade. As such, uncertainties surrounding actual traded quantities and dynamics for CITES-listed Corallium corals exist. Although previous studies and media reports suggest that demand for Corallium corals has increased in mainland China in recent years, leading to higher prices for unworked corals, available data did not clearly support this. According to CITES trade data, mainland China has reported fewer imports of Corallium corals; ~40 kg and 231 pieces during 20082015, most of which were imported from Japan (100% by weight and 75% by number of pieces). According to Japan Customs, the total amount of unworked coral exported from Japan to mainland China was only ~120 kg and annual exports did not show any increase between 2008 and 2016.While Taiwan POC CITES trade data and Customs data suggested that a significant amount of CITESlisted Corallium corals could have been exported from Taiwan POC to mainland China in the last decade, neither showed this to be increasing. Taiwan POC CITES export data, derived from the quantity for which certificates were issued, showed that annual exports of unworked Corallium corals from Taiwan POC to mainland China exceeded 2,700 kg in 2011, after which they declined and ranged from 990 kg to 1,300 kg during 20122015. As the trade between mainland China and Taiwan POC is not recorded in the CITES Trade Database, a potentially considerable trade between these markets may be obscured. Market surveys in Japan, Taiwan POC and Hong Kong SAR revealed that Chinese tourists from mainland China may play an important role as consumers of precious coral products. Such tourists can bring the products back to mainland China with receipts to verify purchases. As movement of specimens as personal or household effects is rarely reported, it is unknown to what extent precious coral products are transferred from each country/territory to mainland China in this fashion. This makes it difficult to analyse the trade, demand and consumption of precious corals.Many traders who were interviewed during the market surveys mentioned that Corallium corals, especially Red Coral, are becoming scarce, although some of the sellers may have done so to promote the rarity appeal of their precious coral products. It is important to raise awareness about Corallium corals and pertinent international and national regulations in relevant countries/territories. Developing a traceability system for precious coral products could help to prevent illegally sourced or traded products from entering the market and also deepen understanding of the need for sustainable use of precious coral resources. Production data may not be accurate due to under/ misreporting of harvest production and illegal coral harvesting in the Northwest Pacific Ocean, driven by the high prices precious corals fetch. Considering that landing data and trade records are often used as proxies for actual population status, owing to the difficulties in monitoring wild populations, the accuracy of these data needs to be improved so as to contribute meaningfully to the monitoring and sustainable use of precious corals. The discrepancy between production and trade data is clearly shown in the trade in C. secundum, which seems to be unreported and/or misreported. Harvest of C. secundum has not been reported to FAO since 1990, except for 7 kg by Taiwan POC in 2015 and 2016. However, 11.4 t and ~50,500 pieces of raw C. secundum were recorded as taken from the wild, according to the CITES Trade Database and Taiwan POC CITES trade data, between 2008 and 2015. Japan and Taiwan POC, which were specified as important sources, are urged to investigate if harvest production is properly reported by the fishermen and to FAO.The report highlighted the importance of utilising trade data in addition to harvest regulation, monitoring of harvests and reporting of CITES-listed Corallium spp. Accurate data for harvesting of live colonies by species and a system to use these data for resource management is essential in order to achieve sustainable use of Corallium corals. 4 TRAFFIC report: Seeing Red Corallium rubrum At the same time, considering that harvest data can be flawed due to under-reporting, misreporting and illegal harvesting as well as difficulties in resource management, trade data can also be an essential indicator of trade in high-priced specimens such as precious corals. Having Customs codes differentiating Corallium corals from non-Corallium corals, or species-specific Customs codes would be vital to achieve this. Monitoring of live colonies of Corallium corals is of importance for conservation and sustainable use of these species. As knowledge of the populations and conservation status of Corallium corals is limited, there is an urgent need for research in range and harvesting States to gain a better understanding of these issues. Until sciencebased harvesting management measures are possible, precautionary approaches towards management of precious coral harvesting activities should be adopted. It is vital that Japan, mainland China, Taiwan POC and Hong Kong SAR consider their respective and changing roles in the exploitation and trade of these precious resources while strengthening their information sharing, liaison on harvesting management measures, co-operation in monitoring, control and surveillance in the Northwest Pacific OceOcean. The report concludes with recommendations for sustainable use of CITES-listed Corallium spp., co-operation and co-ordination among the region and effective implementation of the CITES listing. Details: Japan, 2018. 84p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 5, 2018 at: https://www.traffic.org/publications/reports/seeing-red/ Year: 2018 Country: Asia Keywords: Environmental Crime Shelf Number: 152849 |
Author: Environmental Investigation Agency (EIA) Title: Vietnam in Violation: Action Required on Fake CITES Permits for Rosewood Trade Summary: To feed an insatiable demand for luxury furniture in China, species of rosewoods such as highly prized Siamese rosewood (Dalbergia cochinchinensis) have been unsustainably harvested in the entire Mekong region. Documented evidence suggests various national wild stocks have now been exploited beyond return and are teetering on the brink of commercial extinction and, potentially, demographic collapse. Following the listing of the species on Appendix II of the Convention of International Trade in Endangered Species (CITES), EIA revealed how in 2014 a volume equivalent to the largest known population of Siamese rosewood remaining in the world had been harvested in the region and exported. Vietnam was central to this trade. EIA and some of the most qualified expert scientists in this field consider that the volume of CITES export permits issued pose a direct threat to the survival prospects for Siamese rosewood. EIAs information helped produce the imposition of a trade suspension on Laos for issuing CITES export permits without knowledge of the volumes of standing stocks and without the existence or implementation of credible Non-Detriment Finding (NDFs) systems or any verification of legal acquisition. Contrastingly, Cambodia claimed that Vietnams imports from Cambodia occurred with the use of fake CITES permits. Importantly, documents submitted by the Government of Cambodia to the CITES Secretariat during 2017, as part of the Review of Significant Trade (RST) of D.cochinchinensis, constitute evidence that Vietnam violated numerous provisions of CITES, including at least two fundamental provisions of Article IV of the Convention, and at least two Resolutions in support of them. With Vietnams CITES Management Authority (MA) not having been held accountable for these violations, the time for action is now. Details: London, 2018. 8p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed October 11, 2018 at: https://drive.google.com/viewerng/viewer?url=https://eia-international.org/wp-content/uploads/Vietnam-in-Violation-FINAL.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Asia Keywords: Environmental Crime Shelf Number: 152897 |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Independent Evaluation Unit Title: Drug law enforcement systems for criminal intelligence collection, analysis and exchange Summary: The annual increase in the flow of drugs, mainly opiates from Afghanistan, has become a significant external threat for the Central Asian region. Since a key issue in the fight against illicit drug trafficking is the collection, analysis and exchange of information carried out by analytical units in the law enforcement agencies of the region, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) project RER/F23 (F23), entitled "Drug law enforcement systems for criminal intelligence collection, analysis and exchange", was designed to fill this gap. The project originally began in 2002 and ended on 12 November 2017. The objective of the project was set as "a coherent and comprehensive system for intelligence, and information collection, analysis and exchange is established". The project installed modern intelligence systems and i2 analysis software ("iBase" and "Analysts Notebook") in 18 counter narcotic agencies in the project area. It was funded by Austria, Italy, Canada, France, Norway, Turkey, United Kingdom and United States of America through their respective agencies and by UNDP, with a total overall budget of USD 8,016,445 and implemented by UNODC Regional Office for Central Asia (ROCA). The outcomes of the project are specified somewhat differently in the original project document and revisions, but taking all documentation together, the project aimed at a minimum, within at least one agency within each participating country, with respect to trafficking of narcotics, to increase/enhance 1) information gathering and 2) analysis, and 3) this was to be increasingly intelligence-led; and in addition it also intended to achieve: 1) progress on these dimensions in more than one agency in each country; 2) application a) in particular to transnational narcotics trafficking and b) more generally to other organized crimes; 3) increased exchange of intelligence between agencies within one country; and 4) increased exchange of intelligence between countries. The evaluation followed the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development - Development Assistance Committee (OECD DAC) criteria assessing relevance, efficiency, effectiveness, impact and sustainability, as well as partnerships and cooperation, human rights and gender equality, and the implementation of recommendations from the mid-term Independent Project Evaluation in 2012, deriving lessons learned, best practices and recommendations for future project interventions. Relevant lessons and recommendations for the new UNODC Regional Programme for Central Asian States 2015-2019 were also sought. The evaluation was undertaken by means of a mixed-methods approach with a gender-responsive evaluation methodology in line with United Nations Evaluation Group (UNEG) and UNODC Norms and Standards. The evaluation time scope was 1 January 2012 to 2 December 2017 (end of the evaluation field mission) and the geographical coverage was Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, the locations within which the project was actually implemented. The evaluation was carried out by a team of two external independent evaluators, one lead evaluator with experience in evaluating technical assistance projects in over 30 countries over the last 20 years, and one team member, expert in the area of law enforcement in Central Asia. The evaluation methodology considered primary and secondary data sources ensuring triangulation of findings, further promoting the participation of stakeholders throughout the evaluation process, including a desk review and field mission with semi-structured interviews and site visits including site observation to beneficiary agencies, from 20 November to 2 December 2017. Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2018. 120p. Source: Internet Resource: Final Independent Project Evaluation: Accessed November 12, 2018 at: https://www.unodc.org/documents/evaluation/Independent_Project_Evaluations/2018/RERF23_Final_Independent_Project_Evaluation_May_2018.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Asia Keywords: Criminal Intelligence Shelf Number: 153401 |
Author: United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Independent Evaluation Unit Title: Strengthening and Enhancing the Capacity of Law Enforcement Officials in Combating Child Sex Offenders in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Viet Nam Summary: The project - Strengthening and enhancing the capacity of law enforcement officials in combating travelling child sex offenders in Cambodia, Lao PDR and Viet Nam (XAPA 10), forming part of Sub-Programme 4 on Criminal Justice of the Regional Programme for Southeast Asia (2014-2017) - is a multi-country initiative to combat the sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism in the Mekong sub-region. This project is a continuation and expansion of the now concluded Australia-funded Project Childhood (2010-2014) (XSPT33) that addressed the serious issue of sexual exploitation of children in travel and tourism in the aforementioned countries. Recognising the need for a consistent and harmonised approach, the governments and international organisations in Southeast Asia have worked with the Regional Office for Southeast Asia and the Pacific (ROSEAP), UNODC, in Bangkok, Thailand, to develop and implement a variety of measures to protect children from sexual abuse under XAPA10. This has been done through training, legal reform, and inter-agency and cross-border cooperation mechanisms on crimes against children. This project, initiated on 1 January 2015 and scheduled to conclude on 31 December 2017, has a total approved budget of US$ 657,000 (UNDA fund of US$ 557,000 and a fund from the Government of Japan totalling US$ 100,000). The project consists of three main outcomes: Outcome 1 (Legislation): Stronger legislative and policy frameworks, Outcome 2 (Training): Improved skills and capacity to prosecute offences and Outcome 3 (Cooperation): Improved information exchange mechanisms between criminal justice agencies within and across borders. The Evaluation The purposes of the final Independent Project Evaluation, as specified in the Terms of Reference (ToR), were to provide accountability to the donor by assessing the extent to which the project objectives were met and the degree of utilisation of resources as well as to identify lessons learned and best practices, and to derive recommendations for future decision-making and organizational learning. The final evaluation covered the whole duration of the project from January 2015 to the end of the evaluation field mission (November 2017) and the geographic jurisdiction of Cambodia, Laos PDR, Viet Nam and Thailand. The evaluation followed the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development Development Assistance Committee (OECD-DAC) criteria: relevance, effectiveness, efficiency, impact, sustainability, further assessing human rights, gender considerations, and cooperation and partnerships of the project implementation in order to derive recommendations and lessons learned from measuring its achievements. It consisted of three stages - (1) inception stage with a desk review of secondary data and preparation of the inception report with a summarized evaluation methodology; (2) field research, which was undertaken from 18th October to 3rd November 2017, collecting primary data using open-end questionnaires, semi-structured and group interviews and seeking the views of all identified stakeholders across all project benefitting countries; and (3) the analysis/synthesis/reporting with triangulation of sources, methods and data, resulting in the drafting and finalisation of the report. The evaluation further promoted the participation of stakeholders through feedback on the draft ToR and the draft evaluation report. The evaluation was undertaken by an external independent evaluator in line with UNEG and UNODC Evaluation Norms and Standards. UNEG and UNODC Evaluation Norms and Standards. Details: Vienna: UNODC, 2018. 74p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 14, 2018 at: https://www.unodc.org/documents/evaluation/Independent_Project_Evaluations/2018/UNODC_XAPA10_Final_Independent_Project_Evaluation_Report_January_2018.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Prostitution Shelf Number: 153465 |
Author: Hinsley, Amy Title: The Role of Online Platforms in the Illegal Orchid Trade From South East Asia Summary: The ornamental orchid trade is global and comprises both a large, well-established legal market and a significant but largely unknown illegal trade. Much, though not all, of this illegal trade is driven by demand from specialist collectors for rare species. The trade in wild-harvested plants can have a severe impact on biodiversity: in one documented case, intense demand for a rare species of slipper orchid saw it harvested to near extinction. Illicit sales of wild orchids have been recorded on several online platforms, including e-commerce and social-media websites, forums and private websites, and sellers encompass both hobbyists and formal businesses. Consumers range from houseplant buyers, who want to purchase attractive plants, to specialist growers with a preference for rare species. For consumers who want to avoid illegal avenues of trade, and for researchers and law enforcement who want to monitor the trade, legality can be difficult to determine. However, it can be possible if the plants origin, species and final destination can be identified. This brief makes a substantial contribution to our ability to identify illicit orchid trade and the platforms most likely to host it. Details: Geneva, Switzerland: The Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, 2018. 23p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed November 21, 2018 at: http://globalinitiative.net/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/TGIATOC-OrchidTrade-A4-Web.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Asia Keywords: Environmental Crime Shelf Number: 153154 |
Author: Bhulai, Rafia Title: A Closer Look: Gender Dynamics in Violent Extremism and Countering Violent Extremism in Southeast Asia Summary: As policymakers and practitioners in Southeast Asia increasingly recognize the importance of investing in preventing and countering violent extremism (P/CVE) measures, it is critical to integrate a gender analysis when developing related national action plans, strategies, and programs. This policy brief examines examines key challenges, gaps, and needs of national and regional stakeholders and concludes with recommendations for these actors to consider in advancing gender sensitive P/CVE policy and practice in the region. The brief draws on desk research and extensive consultations with a range of civil society actors, experts, policymakers, and practitioners from the region, including a regional workshop and gender-sensitive P/CVE projects undertaken by local civil society organizations, supported by the Global Center and the government of the Netherlands. Details: Washington, DC: Global Center on Cooperative Security, 2018. 10p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 9, 2018 at: https://www.globalcenter.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/09/GC_2018-Sept_Gender_and_CVE.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Asia Keywords: Countering Violent Extremism Shelf Number: 153881 |
Author: Kanari, Kahoru Title: Trade in Endemic Reptiles in China and Recommendations for Species Conservation Summary: Eighty-seven species of reptile are currently recorded as living in the wild in Japan. Some of these species are designated as protected species under Japans national legislation for ecological or cultural reasons. While some of these species are traded internationally, clarifications are still needed regarding trade dynamics as well as the legal system regulating this trade. This report presents an overview of the Japanese domestic legal system with regard to Japanese reptiles and the trade in Japanese endemic reptiles in Hong Kong and key cities in mainland China, as these locations have been identified as key trade hubs for wildlife products and are geographically close to Japan and illustrative of the international trade from Japan. Several Japanese laws give protection for wildlife in Japan. One of them is the Law for the Protection of Cultural Properties which states that activities that "change the existing state" of national "Natural Monuments" are prohibited. This law designates some Japanese endemic species as "Natural Monuments" in the interests of protecting culturally significant plant and animal species. Despite such legal protection, this study highlights issues of illegal trade in specimens of Japanese endemic reptile species found for sale in pet shops and markets in Hong Kong and mainland China, as well as Chinese-language online trade websites. Through a survey of markets and shops, four of five focal species - Ryukyu Black-breasted Leaf Turtle Geoemyda jaopnica, Ryukyu Yellow-margined Box Turtle Cuora flavomarginata evelynae, Kishinoues Giant Skink Plestiodon kishinouyei and Kiroiwas Ground Gecko Goniurosaurus kuroiwae - were found mainly in Hong Kong, as well as potentially in Guangzhou. The two freshwater turtle taxa and Kuroiwas Ground Gecko were also found for sale on Chinese-language websites. Some of the animals on sale were found to be accompanied by declarations stating that they were wild-caught, and this was therefore in direct violation of Japanese domestic regulations. Reptiles comprise a group for which various problems related to illegal trade have been noted in the past in Japan. In the case of freshwater turtles in particular, there is an urgent need for increased conservation measures to be taken, especially with regard to Japan's endemic species. Based on the findings of this study, TRAFFIC makes the following recommendations: To the Japanese CITES Scientific Authority: The merits of submission of CITES listing proposals for Ryukyu Black-breasted Leaf Turtle, Ryukyu Yellow-margined Box Turtle, Kishinoues Giant Skink and Kiroiwas Ground Gecko should be considered and, in connection with this: - further research should be conducted concerning population status and levels of trade, to inform evaluation of the likely effectiveness of CITES listing, and selection of appropriate Appendix for each species; and - submission of listing proposals at the 16th meeting of the Conference of the Parties to CITES, should be urgently considered with a view to preventing further detrimental exploitation through international trade. - Further long-term monitoring to understand better the relevant trade dynamics should be conducted and supported, including via market surveys in peak seasons of trade. Further investigation would be useful in markets such as Taiwan that are linked to Japan by frequent direct means of transport, as well as in other locations with an active reptile trade, to understand routes used and combat any illegal trade. - Information to the destination Parties, specifically China, should be provided regarding Japans domestic regulations to protect species, so that China and other market destinations can be aware of trade in imported wild specimens from Japan, that are fully protected by law in that country. In addition, the CITES Secretariat should be informed of a zero quota for the CITES Appendix-II listed Ryukyu Yellow-margined Box Turtle from Japan, so that all Parties to CITES recognize Japans national regulation. - Awareness of the biological status of Japanese endemic species, and regulations governing those species should be raised, including through engagement of relevant stakeholders and the general public, in areas around the species habitat, trade routes and destinations. To Japanese lawmakers: - In order to preserve Japans endemic reptile species, Japan should improve species conservation regulations to strengthen protection and conservation of the taxa themselves and wider biodiversity. Establishment of measures for conservation are recommended, including within the framework of the Law for the Conservation of Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora. This would further strengthen existing protection measures for culturally important wild species. - To prevent further damage to Japans endemic threatened species populations, special measures for further restriction of international trade in Yellow-margined Box Turtle Cuora flavomarginata, such as imposing an import ban for foreign specimens of Common Yellowmargined Box Turtle C. f. flavomarginata, should be considered and made effective. To law enforcement agencies and their administrative authorities: - The effectiveness of Japans domestic law enforcement should be strengthened. Even though existing legislation is strong, effective implementation and enforcement against illegal activities is crucial in order for the law to be effective. The fact that trade of endemic species supposedly protected in Japan occurs in foreign markets indicates illegal collection and illegal export. Strengthening of law enforcement at Japans borders as well as in wild habitat is urgent. Regular monitoring of pet shops and markets or trade routes should be pursued to discern active and potential trade locations and sources of illegal animals for domestic and international trade. - Organize capacity-building and training for law enforcement officers to increase awareness of regulations and to improve identification of species/subspecies. To the authorities of destination marketsmainland China and Hong Kong - Greater understanding is needed regarding the legislation of source countries for imported species in trade. Once the specimens in question have been taken abroad they are beyond the reach of the source countrys domestic legislation, therefore it is essential to obtain cooperation from authorities regulating the destination markets. Pet shops and physical markets, as well as online trade, should be monitored to ensure they do not become hotbeds of illegal trade. In addition, any captive-bred claims should be closely checked and verified so that false documentation does not facilitate illegal trade in wild-captured specimens. Details: Tokyo, Japan: TRAFFIC, 2012. 31p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed December 17, 2018 at: http://www.trafficj.org/publication/12_Trade_in_Japanese_Endemic_Reptiles_in_China.pdf Year: 2012 Country: Asia Keywords: China Shelf Number: 153861 |
Author: Trajano, Julius Cesar Title: Combatting Human Trafficking in East Asia: Mind the Gaps Summary: ABSTRACT Despite the ratification of global and regional anti-trafficking frameworks and enactment of relevant national laws, human trafficking remains an endemic security problem in East Asia, threatening states and societies. Two-thirds or 25 million of global trafficking victims were identified to be in the region. This NTS Insight briefly reviews the current regional trends and patterns of human trafficking in East Asia. It demonstrates that robust legal frameworks, while absolutely important, are not sufficient to eradicate and prevent human trafficking. It primarily analyses three fundamental issues that impede effective law enforcement and the eradication of human trafficking in East Asia: (1) weak law enforcement capacity of states; (2) the persistent corruption-trafficking nexus; and (3) limited support services and protection assistance for victims. It highlights the importance of developing and adopting a victim-centered approach in order to make anti-trafficking efforts more holistic and effective. Details: Singapore: Nanyang Technological University, Centre for Non-Traditional Security Studies, 2018. 13p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 9, 2019 at: https://www.rsis.edu.sg/rsis-publication/nts/combatting-human-trafficking-in-east-asia-mind-the-gaps/#.XDZrNlVKjcs Year: 2018 Country: Asia Keywords: Anti-Trafficking Shelf Number: 154047 |
Author: Pavlovich, Steven Title: Guns on Our Doorstep: Illicit Firearm Markets of South East Asia Summary: This project was developed as a reference article for Australian Police and Customs in several parts relating to the developing illicit firearm markets in South East Asia and the identification of workshop made firearms being manufactured in South East Asia. Recently there has been a strong resurgence in the development of illicit firearm manufacturing centres in South East Asia producing firearms, firearms parts and ammunition and it has been reported that the number of illicit firearms in South East Asia could easily be in excess of ten million firearms. Porous borders within this region facilitate the distribution of illicit distribution of firearms. This article reports on the types of firearms seizures in Australia that relate too or have been identified as of South East Asian workshop manufacture with photographs showing parts and details of manufacturing techniques, materials and components used where possible. This research has also endeavoured to identify the regional styles and types of firearms being illegally workshop manufactured in South East Asia with descriptions of construction methods and materials used and discussing these with photographs and drawings for reference. Details: Perth, Western Australia: Australian Police Journal, 2015. 40p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 16, 2019 at: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/328963582_GUNS_ON_OUR_DOORSTEP_-_Illicit_Firearm_Markets_of_South_East_Asia_Australian_Police_Journal_March_2015 Year: 2015 Country: Asia Keywords: Asia Shelf Number: 154176 |
Author: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization Title: School-related violence and bullying on the basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity or Expression (SOGIE): Synthesis Report on China, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam Summary: United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) have a long-standing commitment to address violence based on sexual orientation and gender identity or expression (SOGIE) in Asia-Pacific schools under UNDPs Being LGBTI in Asia initiative. As a part of this initiative, UNDP and UNESCO aim to strengthen regional leadership, advocacy and mobilization for increased awareness of the importance of education sector responses to violence based on SOGIE in the Asia-Pacific region, and to scale up the availability of comprehensive evidence-based programmes to prevent and respond to violence based on SOGIE in educational institutions. In June 2015, the Asia-Pacific regional offices of UNESCO and UNDP co-organized a Regional Consultation on School-Related Bullying, Violence, and Discrimination on the Basis of Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity/Expression (SOGIE), hosting thirteen country delegations. In 2016, as a follow-up to this regional consultation, UNESCO and UNDP supported four national consultations on violence based on SOGIE in the education sector in China, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam. Recommendations from the regional and national consultations included an interest to build a stronger evidence base of the nature and scope of violence based on SOGIE in Asia-Pacific. Objective -- This synthesis report is informed by findings from four individually-developed country briefs on violence on the basis of SOGIE in schools in China, the Philippines, Thailand and Viet Nam. The report was commissioned by UNESCO Bangkok, with support from UNDP's Being LGBTI in Asiainitiative, to broaden the regional awareness and understanding about addressing violence on the basis of SOGIE in educational institutions, while In order to effectively reach its target audience of policy makers, the China brief, while considering violence in schools on the basis of SOGIE, primarily focuses on overall bullying in schools. A summary of that brief is presented herein while the full paper will be published separately.also identifying best practices and policies. It aims to raise awareness and mobilize support for advocacy among educators, research institutions, policy makers and activists at the national and regional levels. The four briefs add valuable insight to what is already known about the causes, manifestations and scale, as well as the impact and consequences, of violence on the basis of SOGIE in educational settings in the four respective countries. Each brief examines the unique programmatic and policy milieu with regards to prevention of and response to violence on the basis of SOGIE in educational settings. While the findings in each brief are country-specific, they also reflect the broader context and situation of LGBTI persons in educational settings across the Asia-Pacific region. The country briefs were reviewed by key education stakeholders in each of the countries before finalization.Development of this synthesis report also included an additional desk-based review of published and unpublished literature, including peer-reviewed articles and studies, assessments, surveys, evaluation reports and situational analyses. Background information and reference materials were solicited from UNDP, UNESCO and other relevant stakeholders.The synthesis report development process included an additional review of policies and legal instruments as well as a review of good practice addressing violence on the basis of SOGIE in schools in Asia-Pacific. The report was developed with the support of an independent consultant with experience in research and advocacy surrounding gender and advocacy surrounding gender and LGBTI issues in the Asia-Pacific region. Details: Bangkok: UNESCO - Bangkok Office, 2018. 85p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed January 28, 2019 at: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000366434 Year: 2018 Country: Asia Keywords: Gender-Related Violence Shelf Number: 154411 |
Author: Kovacs, Anja Title: Unshackling expression: A study on laws criminalising expression online in Asia Summary: Freedom of expression and opinion online is increasingly criminalised with the aid of penal and internet-specific legislation. With this report, we hope to bring to light the problematic trends in the use of laws against freedom of expression in online spaces in Asia. In this special edition of GISWatch, APC brings together analysis on the criminalisation of online expression from six Asian states: Cambodia, India, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan and Thailand. The report also includes an overview of the methodology adapted for the purposes of the country research, as well as an identification of the international standards on online freedom of expression and the regional trends to be found across the six states that are part of the study. This is followed by the country reports, which expound on the state of online freedom of expression in their respective states. With this report, we hope to expand this research to other states in Asia and to make available a resource that civil society, internet policy experts and lawyers can use to understand the legal framework domestically and to reference other jurisdictions. Details: New Delhi: Association for Progressive Communications, 2017. 142p. Source: Global Information Society Watch: Accessed February 4, 2019 at: https://www.giswatch.org/sites/default/files/giswspecial2017_web.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Asia Keywords: Freedom of Expression Shelf Number: 154472 |
Author: Winfield, Karen Title: Global Status of Dalbergia and Pterocarpus Rosewood Producing Species in Trade Summary: Rosewood and other precious woods have been subject to increasing demand over the past decade, created mostly by the increasing wealth of the middle class in China, but also in Vietnam. As such, tree species that produce precious woods under the umbrella term 'rosewood' have begun to feature more prominently in discussions amongst Parties to the Convention on International Trade in Endangered Species of Wild Fauna and Flora (CITES). The focus of this report is the genera Dalbergia and Pterocarpus. These two genera were chosen as they are two of the most heavily traded genera listed on the Chinese Hongmu Standard, and are difficult to differentiate once logged and turned into rough logs/sawn wood or finished products. The the content of this report reflects the information fields required to conduct a sufficiently robust NDF (as laid out in Resolution Conf. 16.7), outlining taxonomic uncertainties, biology, population status and structure, disturbances, threats and management arrangements, in species specific detail where possible and in general country level terms if not. The purpose is to provide an in-depth overview of the range of information available on these required fields for species of Dalbergia and Pterocarpus commonly found in international trade, determine what gaps in knowledge exist, and understand how these gaps can be closed. The report also assesses the risks presented to the species by the failure to address these gaps and take appropriate action. Details: Global Eye, 2016. 246p. Source: Internet Resource: CITES CoP17 Information Paper: Accessed February 7, 2019 at: https://www.illegal-logging.info/sites/files/chlogging/161101%20-%20Cop17%20Inf%20Doc%20-%20Dalbergia%20and%20Pterocarpus%20Final%20V3.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Asia Keywords: Endangered Species Shelf Number: 154511 |
Author: Cachia, Renaud Title: Methamphetamine use in Myanmar, Thailand, and Southern China: assessing practices, reducing harms Summary: Over the past decade, methamphetamine use has grown more popular in Myanmar, Thailand and Southern China. Based on in-depth interviews conducted with individuals who use methamphetamine, this briefing sheds light on the importance of promoting an environment that reinforces, rather than undermines, the ability of people who use methamphetamine to regulate their drug use, preserve their health and adopt safer practices. Key Points: Over the past decade, methamphetamine use has grown more popular in Myanmar, Thailand and Southern China. The substance has become more easily available, while prices have either decreased or remained at low levels. A similar trend has been observed across the entire region, despite a sharp increase in drug seizures and related arrests. This situation highlights the ineffectiveness of current policies, mainly based on repression, to curb the availability and consumption of methamphetamine. Methamphetamine tablets are the most popular form of amphetamine-type stimulants (ATS) in the region, in particular in Myanmar. However, crystal methamphetamine, commonly known as "ice", is strengthening its position on the market. While methamphetamine tablets are mostly smoked, crystal methamphetamine has a greater potential to be injected and is also a more potent substance. It therefore carries specific health risks that need to be addressed through the lens of public health, rather than criminal justice. A great diversity of people are using methamphetamine, although patterns of use can vary significantly. Methamphetamine use is a highly social practice that is particularly common among youths but also among people working at night and/or engaging in difficult manual tasks. Understanding methamphetamine use first requires to acknowledge the perceived benefits these substances can provide. At the same time, people who use them are aware of their negative consequences. There is much to learn from their experiences and the methods they have developed to reduce harms associated with methamphetamine use. Access to reliable, unbiased and evidence-based information on ATS is insufficient. As a result, people who use these substances have to learn about their negative consequences primarily through experience, at the cost of their own health. Because a wide range of people are likely to experiment with methamphetamine use at some point in their lives, access to information for a wide audience must be improved, including through the use of new technologies. The introduction and scale up of specific harm reduction services can play a critical role in promoting safer methamphetamine use practices. In particular, it can help prevent a major switch from inhalation to injection. Organisations providing harm reduction services should recognise and leverage the considerable experience of people who use methamphetamine and support them in their efforts to adopt safer practices. Access to evidence-based treatment for methamphetamine use disorders is insufficient and inadequate. Existing services almost exclusively rely on residential stay in closed facilities that consider complete abstinence as the only possible treatment plan. In contrast, cognitive therapies in community-based settings would be more cost-effective, easier to implement and better adapted to the needs of the majority of people with methamphetamine use disorders. The use of dexamphetamine as a substitution therapy has shown positive outcomes for people with severe methamphetamine use disorders in some other countries. Its introduction should be seriously considered. The potential benefits of milder plant based stimulants such as kratom and cannabis should also be investigated in pilot projects or controlled research trials. Stigma and discrimination against people who use methamphetamine are high and affect their lives in multiple ways. The fear of being arrested acts as a significant barrier for those willing to access health services. Existing laws, punitive in nature, fail to prevent the emergence of risky practices, such as a switch towards injection, and reinforce the marginalisation of people who use these substances. It is therefore crucial to ensure that drug use, as well as the possession of small quantities of methamphetamine for personal use, do not lead to prison penalties. Overall, a greater focus should be placed on harm reduction, and more efforts should be made to promote an environment that reinforces, rather than undermines, the ability of people who use methamphetamine to regulate their drug use, preserve their health and adopt safer practices. Details: Amsterdam: Transnational Institute, 2019. 32p. Source: Internet Resource: Drug Policy Briefing: Accessed March 5, 2019 at: https://www.tni.org/files/publication-downloads/dpb_50_eng_16022019_web_2.pdf Year: 2019 Country: Asia Keywords: Drug Abuse and Addiction Shelf Number: 154806 |
Author: International Crisis Group Title: Fire and Ice: Conflict and Drugs in Myanmar's Shan State Summary: Myanmar's Shan State has emerged as one of the largest global centres for the production of crystal methamphetamine ("ice"). Large quantities of the drug, with a street value of tens of billions of dollars, are seized each year in Myanmar, neighbouring countries and across the Asia-Pacific. Production takes place in safe havens in Shan State held by militias and other paramilitary units allied with the Myanmar military, as well as in enclaves controlled by non-state armed groups. The trade in ice, along with amphetamine tablets and heroin, has become so large and profitable that it dwarfs the formal economy of Shan State, lies at the heart of its political economy, fuels criminality and corruption and hinders efforts to end the state's long-running ethnic conflicts. Myanmar's government should stop prosecuting users and small-scale sellers and work with its neighbours to disrupt the major networks and groups profiting from the trade. The military should better constrain pro-government militias and paramilitaries involved in the drugs trade, with an eye to their eventual demobilisation. The growing drugs trade in Shan State is in part a legacy of the area's ethnic conflicts. For decades, the Myanmar military has struck ceasefire deals with armed groups and established pro-government militias. Such groups act semi-autonomously and enjoy considerable leeway to pursue criminal activities. Indeed, conditions in parts of Shan State are ideal for large-scale drug production, which requires a kind of predictable insecurity: production facilities can be hidden from law enforcement and other prying eyes but insulated from disruptive violence. Tackling the drug trade presents a complex policy challenge involving security, law enforcement, political and public health aspects. But if the drugs trade is partly a symptom of Shan State's conflicts, it is also an obstacle to sustainably ending them. The trade, which now dwarfs legitimate business activities, creates a political economy inimical to peace and security. It generates revenue for armed groups of all stripes. Militias and other armed actors that control areas of production and trafficking routes have a disincentive to demobilise, given that weapons, territorial control and the absence of state institutions are essential to those revenues. The trade attracts transnational criminal groups and requires bribing officials for protection, support or to turn a blind eye, which allows a culture of payoffs and graft to flourish and adds to the grievances of ethnic minority communities that underpin the seventy-year old civil war. Myanmar's military, which has ultimate authority over militias and paramilitaries and profits from their activities, can only justify the existence of such groups in the context of the broader ethnic conflict in the state - so the military also has less incentive to end that conflict. Tackling the drug trade presents a complex policy challenge involving security, law enforcement, political and public health aspects. An integrated approach that addresses all of these areas will be needed to effectively address it: - Myanmar's government should redouble its drug control efforts, ending prosecutions of small-time dealers and users and refocusing on organised crime and corruption associated with the trade. The president should instruct and empower the Anti-Corruption Commission to prioritise this. - At the community level, the government should focus more on education and harm reduction, in line with its February 2018 National Drug Control Policy. It should work with relevant donors and international agencies to invest in education and harm reduction initiatives geared specifically toward the particular dangers of crystal meth use. Although crystal meth is currently not widely used in Myanmar, that is likely to change given the huge scale of production. - Myanmar's military should rethink the conflict management approaches it has employed for decades. In particular, it should exert greater control over - and ultimately disarm and disband - allied militias and paramilitary forces that are among the key players in the drug business. The impunity that these groups enjoy, and the requirement that they mostly fund themselves, has pushed them to engage in lucrative illicit activities. - The military should also investigate and take concerted action to end drug-related corruption within its ranks, focusing on senior officers who facilitate or turn a blind eye to the trade. - Myanmar's neighbours should stop illicit flows of precursors, the chemicals used to manufacture drugs, into Shan State. As the main source of such chemicals, China has a particular responsibility to end this trade taking place illegally across its south-western border. It should also use its influence over the Wa and Mongla armed groups controlling enclaves on the Chinese border to end their involvement in the drug trade and other criminal activities. Targeting the major players in the drug trade will not be easy and comes with risks of pushback, perhaps violent, from those involved. But the alternative - allowing parts of Shan State to continue to be a safe haven for this large-scale criminal enterprise - will see closer links between local armed actors, corrupt officials in Myanmar and the region, and transnational criminal organisations. The more such a system becomes entrenched, and the greater the profits it generates, the harder it will be to dislodge and the longer conflicts in that area are likely to persist. The people of Shan State, and Myanmar as a whole, will pay the highest price. Details: Brussels, Belgium: International Crisis Group, 2019. 36p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 9, 2019 at: https://www.crisisgroup.org/asia/south-east-asia/myanmar/299-fire-and-ice-conflict-and-drugs-myanmars-shan-state Year: 2019 Country: Asia Keywords: Corruption Shelf Number: 154750 |
Author: O'Driscoll, Dylan Title: Mapping of Research on Child Labour in South Asia Summary: Question Who is carrying out or commissioning research on child labour in South Asia (both South Asian and International players) and what research are they doing? Summary This Help Desk Report aims to map out research on child labour in South Asia, specifically: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan, as well as Myanmar (Burma). The report focuses on major projects being carried out by international organisations with an examination of their expenditure on research, as well as local partners. The report also highlights the research being carried out by local organisations and what their areas of focus and capacity are. Finally the report examines the key academics working on child labour and what their main focus is. The aim of the report is to create an understanding of who is conducting and funding research in South Asia and what their main focus is in order to highlight potential partners for future research projects. Details: Brighton, U.K.: Institute of Development Studies, 2017. 14p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 21, 2019 at: https://gsdrc.org/publications/mapping-of-research-on-child-labour-in-south-asia/ Year: 2017 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Exploitation and Abuse Shelf Number: 155132 |
Author: Boateng, Pearl Title: Interventions on Child Labour in South Asia Summary: Question What are the key interventions on child labour and what organisations are carrying them out? Have rigorous research and/or impact evaluations been carried out? Summary The three principal international conventions on child labour (Minimum Age to Employment Convention, 1973 (No. 138), Worst Forms of Child Labour Convention, 1999 (No. 182) and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child 1989, together set the legal parameters for child labour and provide the legal foundations for national and international action against it. Whilst advocacy efforts are the predominant type of intervention, it is difficult to attribute the successes in ratifying conventions and implementing legislative policies and powers to any one organisation or campaign. Notwithstanding, the International Labour Organisation (ILO) continues to lead in this area due to their global presence, funding and partnerships internationally, regionally and nationally. A number of other actors including a number of regional level strategic policy and technical alliances also engage in programmatic support and technical assistance addressing child labour. Impact evaluations on child labour programmes tend to suffer from two main limitations: 1. Seldom is child labour the main outcome of interest of impact evaluations and; 2. Social protection programmes and their constituent interventions are not necessarily selected according to a consistent knowledge generating strategy. Despite these challenges, integrated approaches such as conditional cash transfers combined with supply side interventions such as the provision of education and healthcare services have demonstrated the most success according to the studies examined for this report. Effective and well-targeted responses to child labour demand a strong body of knowledge on the issue, including an understanding of the number of child labourers, which employment sectors and geographical areas they work in, the demographic characteristics of the children involved, and the type of work that they carry out. Despite recent national household surveys in most South Asian countries (with Afghanistan as an important exception), data quality and comparability are uneven and significant information gaps remain, affecting the true understanding of the dynamics of child labour and the ability of policy-makers to address it. There is a general need therefore, for mainstream systems for the collection, analysis and dissemination of child labour statistics, as well as more targeted research aimed at filling specific knowledge gaps. Details: Brighton, U.K.: Institute of Development Studies, 2017. 25p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 21, 2019 at: https://gsdrc.org/publications/interventions-on-child-labour-in-south-asia/ Year: 2017 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Labor Shelf Number: 155133 |
Author: Human Rights Watch Title: "Give us a Baby and We'll Let You Go:" Trafficking of Kachin "Brides" from Myanmar to China Summary: The Myanmar and Chinese governments have failed to stem trafficking of ethnic Kachin women and girls as "brides" to families in China. Hundreds are trafficked each year and sold into sexual slavery for the equivalent of US$3,000 to $13,000. "Give Us a Baby and We'll Let You Go" documents the key factors that are driving the trafficking. The report also documents the failures of law enforcement that allow the trafficking to flourish. Many survivors of trafficking told Human Rights Watch that they sought jobs in China because they faced desperate lives in camps of people displaced by fighting in Myanmar's Kachin and northern Shan States. In China, many families struggle to find brides for their sons due to the country's gender imbalance, exacerbated by the "one-child policy" in place from 1979 to 2015. Survivors of trafficking said trusted people, including family members, promised work in China, then sold them. Once purchased they were typically locked in a room and raped repeatedly. Survivors said the Chinese families often seemed more interested in a baby than a "bride." After giving birth they could sometimes escape, but usually only by leaving their children behind with little hope of seeing them again. Back in Myanmar, survivors have little access to services and grapple with stigma as they try to rebuild their lives. Law enforcement officials on both sides of the border have made little effort to end trafficking. The Myanmar and Chinese governments, and the Kachin Independence Organization, should do more to prevent trafficking, recover and assist victims, and prosecute traffickers. Donors should support organizations assisting victims. Details: New York, NY: Human Rights Watch, 2019. 123p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 21, 2019 at: https://www.hrw.org/report/2019/03/21/give-us-baby-and-well-let-you-go/trafficking-kachin-brides-myanmar-china Year: 2019 Country: Asia Keywords: Asia Shelf Number: 155140 |
Author: Leong, Kaiwen Title: Effect of Enforcement Shock on Pushers' Activities: Evidence from an Asian Drug-Selling Gang Summary: We study a Singaporean drug-selling gang's dataset and empirically find that the gang's pushers purchased larger quantities of drugs during periods of enforcement shocks caused by enforcement activities targeting the gang's drug supply chain. This counter-intuitive finding can be explained by the pushers' profit targeting behavior. Given that enforcement shocks increased the pushers' cost of drugs, pushers must compensate by purchasing more drugs to sell in order to reach their profit targets. Details: Bonn, Germany: Institute of Labor Economics, 2019. 50p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed March 30, 2019 at: http://ftp.iza.org/dp12083.pdf Year: 2019 Country: Asia Keywords: Asia Shelf Number: 155244 |
Author: Hargitt, Katherine Title: Casting Light on the Care, Recovery and (Re)integration Needs of Commercially Sexually Exploited Children From the voices of children, adult survivors and their service providers in Nepal, the Philippines and Thailand Summary: This is a multi-country initiative focusing on child survivors' experiences in accessing judicial remedies and other reparations for sexual exploitation. With its unique focus and prioritization of the voice of the child survivor, the Project empowers children to be active agents in their protection, strengthening access to judicial remedies; identifying the specific recovery and reintegration needs of child victims of sexual exploitation; and improving the opportunity of monetary relief for victims to rebuild their lives. The Research findings and recommendations are presented in thematic papers and reports focusing on Access to Criminal Justice; Access to Recovery and Reintegration; Access to Compensation. Details: Bangkok, Thailand: ECPAT International, 2017. 344p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 5, 2019 at: https://www.ecpat.org/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Casting-Light-on-the-care-recovery-and-reintegrations-needs-of-commercially-sexually-exploited-children-1.pdf Year: 2017 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Protection Shelf Number: 155351 |
Author: Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM) Title: "Sold Like Fish": Crimes Against Humanity, Mass Graves, and Human Trafficking from Myanmar and Bangladesh to Malaysia from 2012 to 2015 Summary: On April 30, 2015, Thai authorities announced the discovery of a mass grave in a makeshift camp in a forested area near the Malaysian border. The grave contained more than 30 bodies of suspected victims of human trafficking believed to be Rohingya Muslims and Bangladeshi nationals. Less than one month later, on May 25, the Royal Malaysian Police announced the discovery of 139 graves and 28 suspected human-trafficking camps in Wang Kelian, Perlis State, Malaysia. Rohingya Muslims have faced military-led attacks and severe persecution in Myanmar for decades. Fortify Rights, the United Nations, and other organizations determined that there are reasonable grounds to believe that the Myanmar authorities committed genocide against Rohingya-a crime that continues to today. These crimes forced hundreds of thousands of Rohingya refugees to flee the country in recent years. Most fled with hopes of finding sanctuary in Bangladesh and Malaysia, the nearest predominantly Muslim countries. This report documents how a transnational criminal syndicate-a group of individuals or organizations working together for common criminal interests- in Myanmar, Bangladesh, Thailand, and Malaysia preyed on Rohingya refugees, deceiving them into boarding ships supposedly bound for Malaysia. Motivated by profit, between 2012 and 2015, a transnational criminal syndicate held Rohingya as well as Bangladeshis at sea and in human-trafficking camps on the Malaysia-Thailand border. Traffickers provided their captives with three options: raise upwards of 7,000 Malaysian Ringgit (US$2,000) in exchange for release, be sold into further exploitation, or die in the camps. Members of a syndicate tortured, killed, raped, and otherwise abused untold numbers of men, women, and children, buying and selling them systematically in many cases, in concert with government officials. Days after the mass-grave discovery in Thailand in 2015, Thai authorities arrested a Rohingya man from Myanmar named Anwar, also known as Soe Naing, for alleged involvement in a human-trafficking ring. Thai authorities went on to arrest 102 other suspects, including senior Thai government officials. Thai authorities then began the largest human-trafficking trial in the history of Southeast Asia. On July 19, 2017, a newly established, specialized human-trafficking court in Bangkok convicted 62 defendants for crimes related to the trafficking of Rohingya and Bangladeshis to Malaysia via Thailand. Those found guilty included nine Thai government officials, including Lieutenant General Manas Kongpaen, a military general who reportedly received approximately US$1 million (3.49 million Malaysian Ringgit) in profits from the trafficking trade, including payments amounting to more than US$400,000 (1.39 million Malaysian Ringgit) in just over one month alone. In contrast, since 2015, Malaysian courts convicted only four individuals of trafficking-related offenses connected to the mass graves discovered at Wang Kelian. All those convicted were foreigners, including one Thai national, two individuals from Myanmar, and a Bangladeshi national. The Royal Malaysian Police reportedly arrested 12 police officers but eventually released them due to a lack of evidence. The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR)-the agency mandated to protect refugees-estimates that more than 170,000 people boarded ships from Myanmar and Bangladesh bound for Thailand and Malaysia from 2012 to 2015 and that the criminal syndicate organizing the vessels generated between US$50 million (174.5 million Malaysian Ringgit) and US$100 million (349 million Malaysian Ringgit) annually. Each ship reportedly earned traffickers an estimated US$60,000 (209,400 Malaysian Ringgit) in profits, according to UNHCR. The majority of people trafficked during this period were Rohingya Muslims; however, in late 2014 and 2015, the syndicate began targeting Bangladeshi nationals as well. This is a joint report by the Human Rights Commission of Malaysia (SUHAKAM, referred to in this report as "the Commission") and Fortify Rights. It documents human rights violations perpetrated against Rohingya Muslims trafficked from Myanmar and Bangladesh to Thailand and Malaysia from 2012 to 2015, the discovery of mass graves in Wang Kelian in Malaysia's Perlis State, and the Malaysian authorities' response to the discovery of the mass graves. It analyzes the violence against Rohingya within the framework of relevant international law. Details: Belfast, ME: Authors, 2019. 124p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 5, 2019 at: https://www.fortifyrights.org/downloads/Fortify%20Rights-SUHAKAM%20-%20Sold%20Like%20Fish.pdf Year: 2019 Country: Asia Keywords: Criminal Syndicates Shelf Number: 155353 |
Author: League of Arab States Title: Child Labour in the Arab Region: A Quantitative and Qualitative Analysis Summary: The Arab region has witnessed a large wave of armed conflicts and population displacement in recent years, believed to have bought with it an upsurge of child labour - the magnitude of which is yet to be fully measured. The impact of armed conflict has exacerbated pre-existing levels of child labour found in rural and urban areas across the Arab region, typically driven by economic vulnerability, poor education and certain social norms. Details: Cairo: Author, 2019. 145p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 10, 2019 at: https://www.ilo.org/wcmsp5/groups/public/---arabstates/---ro-beirut/documents/publication/wcms_675262.pdf Year: 2019 Country: Asia Keywords: Child Labor Shelf Number: 155354 |
Author: Parameswaran, Prashanth Title: Managing the Rise of Southeast Asia's Coast Guards Summary: Over the past few years, Southeast Asian states have begun either significantly increasing their investments in coast guards and other maritime law enforcement agencies (MLEAs) or have considered standing up new agencies. As this has occurred, there has been a rising conversation about the significance not only for these countries themselves, but for wider regional stability and for external partners such as the United States. While recognizing the growing attention that Southeast Asian states are paying to coast guards and MLEAs more generally is a useful starting point, this is only a first step. In order to fully contend with the implications of Southeast Asia's coast guards and to integrate them into wider regional maritime security, policymakers in the Asia-Pacific must be mindful of both the opportunities and challenges inherent in this trend as well as follow through on a series of initiatives at the national, bilateral, regional, and global levels in the coming years. Details: Washington, DC: Wilson Center, 2019. 12p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 15, 2019 at: https://www.wilsoncenter.org/sites/default/files/2019-02_managing_the_rise_of_southeast_asias_coast_guards.pdf Year: 2019 Country: Asia Keywords: Coast Guards Shelf Number: 155410 |
Author: Puckett, Jim Title: Exporting Harm: The High-Tech Trashing of Asia Summary: Electronic waste or E-waste is the most rapidly growing waste problem in the world. It is a crisis not only of quantity but also a crisis born from toxic ingredients - such as the lead, beryllium, mercury, cadmium, and brominated-flame retardants that pose both an occupational and environmental health threat. But to date, industry, government and consumers have only taken small steps to deal with this looming problem. This report reveals one of the primary reasons why action to date in the United States has been woefully inadequate. Rather than having to face the problem squarely, the United States and other rich economies that use most of the world's electronic products and generate most of the E-Waste, have made use of a convenient, and until now, hidden escape valve - exporting the E-waste crisis to the developing countries of Asia. Rather than having to face the E-waste problem squarely squarely, the United States has made use of a convenient, and convenient, and until now, hidden escape valve - exporting the crisis to developing countries of Asia. Yet trade in E-waste is an export of real harm to the poor communities of Asia. The open burning, acid baths and toxic dumping pour pollution into the land, air and water and exposes the men, women and children of Asia's poorer peoples to poison. The health and economic costs of this trade are vast and, due to export, are not born by the western consumers nor the waste brokers who benefit from the trade. The export of E-waste remains a dirty little secret of the high-tech revolution. Scrutiny has been studiously avoided by the electronics industry, by government officials, and by some involved in E-waste recycling. This often willful denial has been aided by the cynical labeling of this trade with the ever-green word "recycling". The current U.S. system begins its path of failure before the electronics ever enter the marketplace. First, manufacturers refuse to eliminate hazardous materials or design for disassembly. Second, government policies fail to hold manufacturers responsible for end-of-life management of their products. Thus, finally, consumers, are the unwitting recipients of a toxic product abandoned by those with the greatest ability to prevent problems. Left with few choices, consumers readily will turn to recycling. But it appears that too often, this apparent solution simply results in more problems, particularly when the wastes are toxic. The open burning, acid baths and toxic dumping pour pollution into the land, air pollution into the land, air, and water and exposes the men, women, and children of Asia's poorer peoples to poison. poison. While there are many E-waste recyclers who espouse and practice sincere environmental ethics and are trying to make the most of poor upstream design, there are many others whose "recycling" claims offer false solutions recycling via export directly, or indirectly through brokers. Indeed, informed recycling industry sources estimate that between 50 to 80 percent of the E-waste collected for recycling in the western U.S. are not recycled domestically, but is very quickly placed on container ships bound for destinations like China. Even the best-intentioned recyclers have been forced, due to market realities, to participate in this failed system. They see that the real solution is producer responsibility Details: Basel Action Network; Silicon Valley Toxics Coalition, 2002. 54p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 19, 2019 at: http://svtc.org/wp-content/uploads/technotrash.pdf Year: 2002 Country: Asia Keywords: E-Waste Shelf Number: 155471 |
Author: Hopson, Eric Title: Scam Recycling: e-Dumping on Asia by US Recyclers Summary: BANs e-Trash Transparency Project is the first large-scale e-waste flow study accomplished by observing actual e-waste movement from the United States into the global marketplace. The result has been sobering. At the outset of the project, the question was posed: Does the public still need to fear that their e-waste, when delivered either to a charity or to a recycler, has a strong likelihood of being exported to a developing country instead of being recycled here in the United States? Unfortunately, this has been answered in the affirmative. Exports continue Despite years of education, particularly within the recycling industry, as well as national media attention spotlighting the harmful exploitation of developing countries via export, and despite the subsequent development of recycling certification schemes spurred into existence by the revelations of harm done, the exportation of electronic waste from the United States to developing countries continues to occur at an alarming rate. For the projects tracker installations, BAN chose three waste types -- LCD monitors with mercury backlights, CRT monitors, and printers. Each of these are considered as hazardous waste under international law. To date, the study has witnessed 34% of the 205 tracker deployments move off-shore, with 31% of the total going to developing countries. Looking at those that were exported only, 93% of the exports went to developing countries. 87% have gone to Asia, 3% to Africa, 1% to the Middle East, 1% to Latin America and Caribbean region. 7% moved to the developed countries of Mexico and Canada. Of the 152 trackers delivered directly to recyclers, the primary subject of this report, 40% were exported -- significantly higher than the 15% export rate for the 53 trackers delivered to charities or retailers. In the course of the entire pathways (chains) of the 205 tracker movements, the trackers passed through the hands of 168 different identifiable US recyclers. Of these companies delivered to or revealed, over 45% were part of a movement that went offshore (export chain). LCDs were exported at the highest rate of the three types of equipment deployed: 53% of LCDs studied were exported, 30% of printers, and 18% of CRTs. LCDs containing mercury lamps, as exclusively deployed in this study, are likely the most toxic of the three. Certifications and export One of the responses in recent years to the absence of federal government action to the discovery of irresponsible exports has been the advent of electronics recycling certification programs. Relative to exports from the US that likely result in illegal trade,this study found that R2 certified recyclers had a higher-than-average export rate, uncertified recyclers had a lower-than-average export rate, and e-Stewards had the lowest average export rate of all three categories. With respect to certifications represented as the last holder of e-waste prior to export (apparent exporter), R2 exceeded e-Stewards 9 to 1. Illegality foreign and domestic This study also looked at when and whether these exports are illegal. Compared with much of the rest of the world, the US has been negligent in passing national legislation to control most hazardous waste exports. Despite this deficiency, the hazardous waste exports we documented were still likely to be illegal under existing US law, and almost in every instance are likely to be in violation of the laws of importing countries. For example, China, including the Special Administrative Region of Hong Kong, has long had a prohibition on the import of hazardous e-waste. More broadly, any of the 184 Basel Convention Parties, under the terms of the Convention, are not allowed to trade in hazardous wastes with a non-Party like the US unless all trading partners are members of the OECD group of developed countries. Thus, many of the importing countries revealed by this study are among 150 countries prohibited from importing Basel listed hazardous wastes from the US. Once the waste has been exported from the US, it is considered "illegal traffic" and is a criminal act for those in Basel Parties to import it. In the United States, there is one rule that requires companies to pre-notify the US EPA if they wish to export some CRTs (CRT Rule). However, none of the companies found in this study to be involved in a chain of export for CRTs are listed on the EPA website as having provided the necessary notification; this means those CRT shipments are likely to violate US law. Fraud and false representation There are also domestic legal questions regarding fraud and false advertising. At least 18 of the 72 (25%) companies with websites found in this study to be in a chain of exporting hazardous electronic waste, make strong claims on their websites that they will only manage it domestically. A legal review conducted for this report (see Appendix 4) indicates that such misrepresentations can be prosecuted under state and federal consumer protection or fraud laws, and have been. Green washing Apart from legal matters, many of the companies in the chain of export also appear to cloak their export behavior with affiliations with reputable organizations and government programs. Many are part of state takeback programs, some claim EPA affiliations such as the WasteWise program, or tout membership in business associations such as the Institute for Scrap Recycling Industries (ISRI). Our comprehensive table found in Appendix 5 indicates the above-mentioned affiliations which, listed on the "front door" may help to cloak a company's actions with a reputable green aura, while irresponsible and likely illegal exports pass out the "back door". New Territories, Hong Kong: the next Guiyu? More than half of the exported trackers made their way to Hong Kong's New Territories. BANs recent visits there raise significant alarm bells that the area, which for many years had served only as a staging, sorting, and shipping area for e-waste from North America prior to its smuggling into mainland China, may become the next Guiyu, if action is not taken quickly. BAN's 205 trackers found 48 different electronics junkyards in New Territories and we estimate there are likely between 100 and 200 such sites now involved there smashing and crudely separating commodity and toxic fractions from printers, LCD screens, and other equipment. Meanwhile, Hong Kong authorities appear to have not been diligently enforcing against such imports and subsequent toxic recycling operations, despite clear signs of illegal importation, damaging pollution, and illegal labor practices. Details: Seattle, Washington: Basel Action Network, 2016. 65p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed April 20, 2019 at: http://wiki.ban.org/images/1/16/ScamRecyclingReport-print.pdf Year: 2016 Country: Asia Keywords: Asia Shelf Number: 155486 |
Author: Pardo, Bryce Title: Contemporary Asian Drug Policy: Insights and Opportunities for Change Summary: Changing patterns in drug use and supply can affect the well-being and development of Asian countries in many ways: The burden of disease from injection drug use, over-reliance on the criminal justice system, and rise of drug-related crime can impede economic, environmental, and social development. Historically, countries in Asia have addressed illicit drug use and supply with harsh punishments, including compulsory treatment and the death penalty. The region has long espoused the goal of creating a drug-free society, a goal that has been abandoned in other parts of the globe for being infeasible. This report describes the illicit drug policy landscape for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) + 3 countries (China, Japan, and South Korea), which account for about 30 percent of the world's population. The authors also present three case studies on the shifting drug policy landscape in Asia: (1) the violent crackdown on people who use or sell drugs in the Philippines, (2) Thailand's move from a similar crackdown toward an alternative approach of reducing criminal sanctions for drug use and improving access to medication treatment and needle exchange, and (3) China's emergence as a major source of many new chemical precursors and drugs, like fentanyl, that are exported outside Asia. Data on drug use and dependence in Asia are limited There is tremendous imprecision in the data available on drug consumption and expenditures in Asia. This information is critical for understanding the revenues generated by drug traffickers and putting the amount of drugs seized into context. As in many countries, most Asian nations rely on surveys of self-reported behaviors to learn about substance use; issues of underreporting might be more pronounced in Asia given the stigma and harsh punitive responses. Injection drug use contributes to the burden of disease; gaps in access to treatment remain Several countries in the region have reported alarming rates of blood-borne illnesses among injection drug-using populations. The region has employed compulsory inpatient treatment, although many countries are starting to adopt voluntary outpatient medication therapies for people who use opiates. Nonetheless, gaps in access remain and some countries have maintained restrictions on medication therapies. Approaches to drug problems vary The Philippines has embarked on a violent repression of drug distribution and use. This is a particularly dubious approach for improving health outcomes and could have unintended consequences. The Thai government has shifted rhetoric toward treatment and reduced punishment and has reformed laws to allow medical cannabis and kratom. China is a leading source of legitimate chemicals for global markets. However, gaps in regulatory oversight and an abundance of manufacturers permit illicit export of precursors and synthetic drugs, including fentanyl. China has attempted to bring new chemicals under regulatory control, but producers are quick to adapt, impeding efforts to stem the flow to global markets. Recommendations National governments and regional organizations should improve their data-collection efforts to produce more-accurate and more-reliable estimates of drug consumption and expenditures. This could be done by utilizing new and advanced measurement techniques, such as wastewater testing, web surveys, and respondent-driven sampling. Medical practitioners and researchers should expand evidence-based drug treatment (e.g., methadone and buprenorphine for opiate use disorders) and disease-prevention modalities (e.g., needle and syringe exchange programs) as well as evaluate new efforts that show promise in reducing drug use and harm. Policymakers and researchers should monitor and project the implications of shifting patterns in synthetic drug supply, including their impact on the cultivation of traditional drugs. Those condoning harsh drug law enforcement, including capital punishment, should reconsider this approach. In addition to potential unintended consequences, there is a growing body of research suggesting that the certainty and swiftness of a sanction matters more than severity in creating a deterrent effect. This raises important questions about the use of violent crackdowns and capital punishment for drug offenses in Asia. Details: Santa Monica, RAND, 2019. 118p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed May 15, 2019 at: https://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/research_reports/RR2700/RR2733/RAND_RR2733.pdf Year: 2019 Country: Asia Keywords: Drug Abuse and Addiction Shelf Number: 155854 |
Author: Samuel, Thomas Koruth Title: Undergraduate Radicalisation in Selected Countries in Southeast Asia: A Comparative Quantitative Analysis on the Perception of Terrorism and Counter-Terrorism among Undergraduates in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand Summary: This study seeks to understand the perception of undergraduates from both public and private universities in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand on the issue of terrorism and counter-terrorism. The research was carried out by examining the current literature on the subject, studying countries beyond the region that face similar challenges, seeking the views and opinions from experts in the field, and conducting a quantitative survey on undergraduates from the five respective countries in the region. The purpose of the research was firstly, to obtain a 'situational understanding' based on statistical analysis on the views, reasoning and understanding of the undergraduates in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand on the various issues surrounding terrorism and counter-terrorism. After having a better understanding of the relationship and dynamics between the undergraduates, the universities and the various components of terrorism and counter-terrorism; the second objective was to identify areas of concern that require intervention. The third and final objective was to suggest recommendations or possible ways forward with regard to the potential challenges vis-a-vis undergraduate views on radicalisation in the Southeast Asian countries mentioned above. A major component of this study was the quantitative survey conducted in the five countries. The survey focused on having a better understanding of the thought processes of the undergraduates in seven core areas, namely: (i) their sources of information when it came to the subject of terrorism and counter-terrorism; (ii) their views on what constitutes terrorism; (iii) their perception on various issues surrounding terrorism; (iv) their ideas on how traditional media and the Internet have influenced their thinking and actions in relation to terrorism and counter-terrorism; (v) their opinions on both the hard and soft approaches in relation to countering terrorism; (vi) their opinions on the dynamics of mental radicalisation; and (vii) their thoughts on the possible alternatives to terrorism and its subsequent effectiveness. The survey yielded numerous insights into the thinking and behavioural patterns of the undergraduates on the subject of terrorism and counter-terrorism in the five countries. Among the key findings were: (i) radical violent and 'not-yet' violent ideas were a clear and present danger; (ii) undergraduates were very aware of terrorism and were of the opinion that it would affect their lives; (iii) images and videos were powerful mediums utilised by terrorists, and could also be used in counter terrorism efforts; (iv) there was an urgent need to identify and develop credible alternatives to terrorism in the context of addressing grievances and addressing conflict; (v) both the television and the Internet had the potential to be tremendous tools in countering terrorism; (vi) there was a small but significant minority of undergraduates who were actively seeking out terrorists and violent extremist content via the Internet; and (vii) there was a distinct and significant role that universities had played in the area of radicalisation and could play in the field of deradicalisation as well. With regards to the way forward, the areas that need further attention and careful deliberation are: (i) the need for universities to be much more involved in countering terrorism; (ii) the need to involve and partner undergraduates in countering violent extremism; (iii) the need to further exploit the media in countering terrorism; (iv) the need to target non-violent radicalisation activities/advocates to prevent violent extremism; (v) the need to tell the stories of the victims and former terrorists; (vi) the need to publicise the alternatives to terrorism; (vii) the need for digital story-tellers; (viii) the need for real-life heroes and heroines; (ix) the need to re-channel curiosity; (x) the need for critical thinking; and (xi) the need to move from 'selective CVE-inoculation' to 'comprehensive CVEinoculation'. The study concludes with two additional discoveries that are significant. Firstly, that universities can potentially provide a conducive environment for undergraduate radicalisation, and secondly, that universities and undergraduates can be significant partners as well as stakeholders in countering violent extremism. Details: Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia: Southeast Asia Regional Centre for Counter-Terrorism (SEARCCT), Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 2018. 274p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 19, 2019 at: http://www.searcct.gov.my/images/Articles_2016/Articles_2018/Undergraduate_Radicalisation_in_Selected_Countries_in_SEA.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Asia Keywords: Asia Shelf Number: 156529 |
Author: Economist Intelligence Unit Title: The Global Illicit Trade Environment Index: Asia Summary: Economies around the world are facing the blight of illicit trade, but perhaps nowhere more so than in Asia-Pacifc. The region, long a source of supply for illicit goods - be it counterfeits, drugs, or traffcking in humans or illicit wildlife - is now emerging as a major source of demand, compounding the problem signifcantly. And although not much hard data are available, it is quite clear that "due to rising affuence in Asia and other major consuming economies, illicit trade volumes have gone up," says Steven Galster, founder and executive director of the Freeland Foundation, an Asia based non-governmental organisation (NGO) focused on environmental conservation and human rights, who cited the trade in endangered species, specifically. As a result, wildlife species are disappearing at alarming rates; pirated and mislabelled products are traded freely across borders and sold openly within them, with varied rates of concern and control on the part of governments; narcotics-related incidents frequently make headlines of regional newspapers; human trafficking is becoming even more common, abated and masked at the same time by various refugee crises in South-east Asia; illegal logging remains a threat to deforestation throughout the region, spurring corruption and lining the pockets of criminals with piles of cash; and illegal arms sales are rampant. The Global Illicit Trade Environment Index is a tool not to measure the size of the problem, but to better understand underlying vulnerabilities in economies that give rise to illicit trade or fail to inhibit it. Although the size of the problem in monetary terms is hard to measure, it is clear the sums of illegal money involved are huge, and there is a consensus on the need to curb illicit trade. Through this study, we hope to provide insight on how economies can use the tools at their disposal to create the right environment to do so. Given Asia's geographic, economic and political diversity, it should come as no surprise that its economies have had varying degrees of success in - and varying attitudes towards - combating illicit trade. As the region continues to grow, and as it moves towards deeper economic and trade integration via various trade agreements and related initiatives, such as the Association of South-East Asian Nations (ASEAN) Economic Community (AEC), there will be an attendant need for it to implement stricter policies on illicit trade. Its record so far is not encouraging. There have, however, been some positive developments in recent years, says Jeremy Douglas, regional representative of the UN Offce on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) for South-east Asia and the Pacifc. Mr Douglas notes that there has been "increasing political interest" in addressing illicit trade and [we are seeing] a couple of key ASEAN member states prioritising action on border management and scanning illicit flows of all kinds. Nevertheless, he does caution that political interest "hasn't translated into practical change yet". To measure how nations are addressing the issue of illicit trade, the Transnational Alliance to Combat Illicit Trade (TRACIT) has commissioned the Economist Intelligence Unit to produce the Global Illicit Trade Environment Index. The global index expands upon an Asia-specifc version, originally created by The Economist Intelligence Unit in 2016 to score 17 economies in Asia on the extent to which they enabled or prevented illicit trade. The Asian index generated much-needed attention on the issue of illicit trade within the region. Building upon the success of the Asia index, the global index now includes 84 economies, providing a global perspective and new insights on the social and economic impacts of illicit trade. This briefng paper focuses on the 21 economies in the Asia-Pacific covered by the index. For an explanation of how the global illicit index differs from the 2016 index, please consult the methodology in the appendix. Details: New York: Transnational Alliance to Combat illicit Trade (TRACIT), 2018. 29p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 21, 2019 at: https://www.tracit.org/uploads/1/0/2/2/102238034/eiu_asia_illicit_trade_paper_final.pdf Year: 2018 Country: Asia Keywords: Drug Trafficking Shelf Number: 156583 |
Author: Liou, Caroline Title: Using Social Media for the Prevention of Violence Against Women: Lessons Learned from Social Media Communication Campaigns to Prevent Violence Against Women in India, China and Viet Nam Summary: The use of social media tools such as Facebook, You Tube and blogging sites have become part of the daily lives of millions of people in Asia. As of June 2012, Asia has more than 1,076,000,000 internet users - more than any other region of the world - and accounts for 45 percent of internet users worldwide. While internet penetration rates are only 28 percent, Asia - particularly amongst youth - is the world's fastest growing and largest segment of social network users in the world. Around the globe, social media tools have helped fuel social movements. Social media has been shown to strengthen social actors' ability to challenge and change power relations in society, providing platforms for debate, reflection, influencing and mobilizing people. To better understand the potential of social media to engage young people in efforts to prevent violence against women (VAW), the Partners for Prevention regional project, 'Engaging Young Men Through Social Media for the Prevention of Violence against Women' - which supported social media campaigns designed to raise awareness and motivate young people to take action to prevent VAW - has revealed practical lessons from three campaigns on the effective use of social media tools for violence prevention. The three campaigns, implemented in 2011/2012, were: the ''Must Bol'' Campaign, conducted by Community the Youth Collective (CYC), a youth NGO from Delhi, India; the 'Love Journey' campaign by Peace and Development Viet Nam (PYD), a Spanish NGO in Hanoi, Vietnam; and the ''17 Man'' campaign by Eastern Campus, a public relations company in Beijing, China, with guidance from UN Women China. This publication is based on best practices and lessons learned from these three social media campaigns implemented in China, Viet Nam and India. Details: Bangkok, Thailand: Partners for Prevention, 2013. 50p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed June 27, 2019 at: http://www.partners4prevention.org/sites/default/files/resources/socialmedia_final.pdf Year: 2013 Country: Asia Keywords: Asia Shelf Number: 156719 |
Author: Sembiring, Margareth Title: Global Waste Trade Chaos: Rising Environmentalism or Cost-Benefit Analysis? Summary: International garbage disputes are rare. Lately, however, the world witnesses waves of newsworthy trash saga. From the Philippines shipping containers of rubbish back to Canada, to Malaysia planning to return tons of garbage back to countries of origin, to China's near-total ban of plastic waste import, it is hard not to wonder whether this is a real sign of rising environmentalism. Have countries begun to think that the environment is worthy of a similar priority as the economy? This Insight argues that behind the seemingly growing pro-environment attitudes, it still remains to be seen whether this trend is sustainable in the long run. Considering that the global waste trade is a multi-billion dollar industry, the balance may tip to favour the economic activities again once the dust has settled back. The paper first looks at a brief description of the global waste trade industry. It then discusses some of the contemporary development in the global waste industry particularly on the issues of waste smuggling and China's plastic waste import ban. It describes related experiences in Indonesia, Malaysia, Vietnam, the Philippines and Thailand. Details: Singapore: Nanyang Technological University, 2019. 9p. Source: Internet Resource: Accessed August 12, 2019 at: https://www.rsis.edu.sg/wp-content/uploads/2019/07/NTS-Insight-Global-waste-trade_010719.pdf Year: 2019 Country: Asia Keywords: Environmental Crime Shelf Number: 156969 |