October 2024

Civil Society Observatory of Illicit Economies in Asia-Pacific Update

October has been a busy month in the world of international crime-fighting! Between 14 and 18 October dignitaries and civil societies from around the world descended on Vienna, Austria to attend the 12th Conference of the Parties to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC). This is an important event in the GI-TOC’s calendar - together with our partners, we delivered a comprehensive programme of side events, presented new research, fostered cooperation against organized crime and corruption, and, importantly, supported a platform for community leaders to contribute to important multilateral discussions. This year we also launched the UNTOC Hub,  a platform through which civil society groups from communities across the world can find information on how to engage and meaningfully contribute to the UNTOC review mechanism.

Our Observatory made sure that Asia and the Pacific had a prominent role on the agenda. Among other activities we ran two side events; Regional Approaches to Combating Transnational Organized Crime in the Pacific and “Actionable solutions to organized fraud and human trafficking in South East Asia from a broad transnational crime perspective.” 

The Pacific event was sponsored by New Zealand, and co-organized by Australia, Canada, the UK, the US and the GI-TOC and included representatives from regional institutions who underscored the growing complexity and increasingly transnational nature of organized crime in the Pacific Islands (with drug trafficking as the prime example). 

Our event on organized fraud/cyberscams was sponsored by Australia, and co-organized by Indonesia, the UK, the Freedom Collaborative and the GI-TOC, and provided the space to share latest trends on the phenomenon as key entry points for response. Speakers also discussed the diverse role of the private sector both as perpetrator and essential respondent and the need for more holistic private-public-civil society partnerships. 

The GI-TOC on the Pacific 

Virginia Comolli , Head of the Pacific Programme, spoke on transnational organized crime and geopolitics in the Pacific Islands at a conference on "Organized Crime and Geopolitics in the Indo-Pacific: Toward a Transnational Crisis?" The event, hosted in Paris by the Fondation pour la Recherche Stratégique (FRS) and the Center for International Studies (CERI) of Sciences Po, brought together experts and officials from the region, as well as Europe and North America, emphasing the increasing role of technology in propelling existing and new forms of organized crime, and well as the spread of environmental crimes across the region. 

New project on drug trafficking across the Pacific

In October we inaugurated a new project in partnership with the Regional Intelligence Liaison Office Asia/Pacific (RILO A/P), which is part of a global network of RILOs supporting the work of the World Customs Organisation (WCO). This project will produce a situational analysis of drug trafficking networks and routes across the Pacific Islands to inform the work of both RILO A/P management and front-line officers.

The GI-TOC on South East Asia

On 10-11 October, the GI-TOC was invited to join the Technical Workshop on investigating and prosecuting trafficking in persons syndicates involved in cyber scam centre operations across South East Asia in Bali, Indonesia, which was organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia and the Regional Support Office of the Bali Process. This meeting represented a special opportunity to share the latest data and information on trends with front-line officers from across the region and discuss their needs to enhance the response going forward. 

The GI-TOC on China

In recent weeks, the debate around China-linked criminality in Asia and the Pacific has been reignited by dramatic claims made from inside a Thai jail cell. Detained businessman She Zhijiang has been labelled “the brains behind an illegal gambling and online scam empire with links to people and firms throughout South-East Asia.” Now languishing in a Thai jail and facing extradition to China, he has told Al-Jazeera that he was a Chinese spy. These are desperate times for She, so any claim of this nature must be treated with caution. The news has nonetheless turned the spotlight to Chinese party-state links to criminality in the region once more. For an introduction to the topic, as well as some evidenced case studies, refer to our report from May this year.

Meeting our GIN members

This month we are featuring Dr. Moses Ma’alo Faleolo, a Lecturer in Criminology at Victoria University of Wellington. He is a registered Social Worker, Samoan criminologist, and Gang researcher based in the Institute of Criminology, School of Social and Cultural Studies. Dr. Faleolo completed his PhD, titled "Hard-Hard-Solid! Life histories of Samoans in Bloods Youth Gangs in New Zealand," which is the first of its kind in the southern hemisphere. He leads a small team focused on developing a new criminology theory called "Towards a Pacific criminology: Life histories of gang-involved Samoans in Oceania." Dr. Faleolo's work has led to significant initiatives such as the world's first Pacific criminology symposium in 2023 and the establishment of the inaugural Australia New Zealand Society of Criminology Pacific Criminology Thematic Group. He has been honored with the 2023 Indigenous Justice Award and is also a co-chief editor of the 2024 Pacific Criminology Special Issue in the International Journal of Crime, Justice, and Social Democracy. In addition, Dr. Faleolo recently returned from Samoa after speaking at the National University of Samoa Faculty of Arts seminar series, where he raised concerns about the rise of Ice or methamphetamine in the Samoan islands. In New Zealand, he is the sole individual who has gained access to hard-to-reach urban street gang communities, teaches the only university course on ethnic minority urban street gangs, and contributes extensively to the understanding of the lesser-known aspects of gang membership.  Great to be working with you Moses!!

What’s Next for the APA Team

On 6 and 7 November, the GI-TOC will host the second Mekong Development Dialogue (MDD) in Bangkok supported by the Australian Government, in coordination with the Thailand Institute of Justice. This dialogue will bring together stakeholders from Australia, Thailand, donor governments, multilateral institutions, civil society and the private sector to examine the eco-system of crime and to unpack the drivers and enablers of organized crime across the Mekong subregion. Following the MDD, the GI-TOC, ASEAN-ACT and the Bali Process are co-hosting a group of experts to discuss the coordination of responses to cyber scam operations in South-East Asia. 

Virginia will be joining a panel of experts at Georgetown University on 7 November for a discussion on China and Transnational Crime: Fentanyl and Beyond. Register here to attend the online discussion.

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Until next month,

Louise Taylor

Director, GI-TOC Civil Society Observatory of Illicit Economies in Asia-Pacific