Official and Illicit Arms Transfer Data in Southeast Asia

Resolving the Illicit Trade of Small Arms and Light Weapon through ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime (AMMTC)

“…There are economic benefits from both legal and illicit trade of SALW (Nsia-Pepra & Pearson, 2009). The arms trafficking transaction in Southeast Asia involves many intermediaries: traders and smugglers, criminals, government officials and intermediaries who coordinate the supply of weapons to various recipients (Nsia-Pepra & Pearson, 2009). In order to control the dissemination and illicit trade of SALW, alternative economic activities are needed to replace the attractiveness arising from SALW's illicit trade and negotiations needed for regional policy.…”

“…SALW which is a portable weapon, easy to carry and hidden was most destructive weapon. The existence of SALW made it responsible for 50-90% of victims in the civil war until now (Nsia-Pepra & Pearson, 2009). In addition to demand from buyers throughout the region, poverty and economic problems, political crises, armed conflicts and natural disasters can encourage actors to smuggle and trade illicit SALW (Nsia-Pepra & Pearson, 2009).…”

“…The existence of SALW made it responsible for 50-90% of victims in the civil war until now (Nsia-Pepra & Pearson, 2009). In addition to demand from buyers throughout the region, poverty and economic problems, political crises, armed conflicts and natural disasters can encourage actors to smuggle and trade illicit SALW (Nsia-Pepra & Pearson, 2009). Southeast Asia states only have the ability to develop and produce SALW, considering the fact that the market of SALW itself becomes important to support the domestic supply and the state's economic sector of defence industry (Bitzinger, 2013).…”

“…Illicit SALW circulating in Southeast Asia were generally the remnants of the Vietnam and Cambodian war that inherit about 2 million firearms and 150,000 tons of ammunition utilized by the black market (Chouvy, 2013). The illicit SALW trafficking routes within Southeast Asia are through Myanmar, Indonesia, Thailand, the Philippines and Malaysia (Nsia-Pepra & Pearson, 2009). The uncontrolled spread of SALW in Southeast Asia has several impacts, such as contributing to high levels of violent crime in Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines and Thailand; insurgency in Aceh, Mindanao and Myanmar; increasing communal conflict in Maluku; and impending development in Cambodia (Kramer, 2001).…”

“…However, ASEAN became an actor who localized SALW as a transnational crime issue and dismisses the possibility of sensitive internal issues, such as military and police involvement in unlawful SALW transfers with the intention of limiting the scope of the effectiveness of the norm (Capie, 2008). ASEAN's awareness of taking responses to transnational crime had an impact on the securitization of member states on its domestic issues (Emmers, 2003;Haacke & Williams, 2008;Nsia-Pepra & Pearson, 2009). The securitization of issues by the member states should not make ASEAN restrain the issue of illicit SALW circulation into transnational or counter-terrorism criminal issues to influence the effectiveness of SALW circulation norms in the region.…”