In this episode of the Small Arms Survey podcast, the EU-LAS project implementing partners—INTERPOL, the WCO, and the Small Arms Survey—as well as the League of Arab States, reflect on the challenges related to small arms in the Arab region. They review the progress made in phase two of the project to address these challenges and discuss the work that still lies ahead as preparations for the third phase begin.

The Indo-Pacific region, in all its vastness and diversity, presents many international security challenges. It is also a region with, thus far, limited engagement with the Arms Trade Treaty (ATT). Only 11 Indo-Pacific countries are currently states parties to the ATT, and nine states from the region have signed the Treaty but not yet ratified it.

The rate of violent deaths in the Caribbean remains well above the world average. Trafficking—including of firearm parts used to build privately made firearms (PMFs)—remains the primary source of small arms seized in the region. PMFs in the Caribbean vary widely in sophistication. Given their low cost and the increasingly diverse ways in which key firearm components can be acquired or produced—including through the use of 3D-printing and CNC-milling technology—PMFs have the potential to become a significant threat.

Situation Update: Balkh Province, Afghanistan

Located in the north-east of Afghanistan and sharing borders with Uzbekistan and Tajikistan, Balkh province hosts ethnically diverse populations, and power in the province has historically rested with non-Pashtun communities, particularly Tajiks and Uzbeks.

The Small Arms Survey held an online event on Friday, 26 April 2024, organized by its Security Assessment in North Africa (SANA) project, and marking the launch of its publication, Persistent Perils: The Illicit Proliferation of MANPADS in the Middle East and North Africa.

Since 1970, armed groups have hit dozens of civilian aircraft with man-portable air defence systems (MANPADS), killing more than 1,000 civilians. The international community has taken numerous steps to reduce illicit proliferation, but armed groups in the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region continue to acquire and use these systems.

Mali has faced more than a decade of armed violence perpetrated by extremists, resulting in thousands of victims among national and international armed forces, UN peacekeepers, and civilians.   

Following the Taliban’s assumption of control in Afghanistan in August 2021, uncertainty has persisted about the scale, scope, and specific elements of the arsenal it captured from the previous regime. A new report from the Small Arms Survey, based on hitherto unpublished official data, provides the most refined picture to date of the arsenals captured by the Taliban.

Improvements in technology and information sharing have transformed PMFs from crude, impractical homemade devices of limited value to most criminals into highly functional weapons that are increasingly viewed as viable substitutes for factory-built firearms. The effectiveness of national and international small arms control regimes are gradually being eroded; the lack of serial numbers on such weapons, for example, undermines tracing efforts that have been a cornerstone of investigations.