Suva (Fiji), 12 November 2024 - Caught in the middle of illicit smuggling routes, the island countries of the Pacific are facing a range of transnational crime threats. Drug trafficking, money laundering and the proliferation of cyberfraud through massive scam centres being built into which workers are trafficked and abused, are only but a few.
Geographically and geopolitically, the island countries surrounded by the crystal-blue Pacific have always been in a strategic transshipment spot, but it is only in recent years that transnational organized crime is catching up with these globalized trade patterns. The UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), together with the Australian government, is supporting countries to work together to stop this trend.
“For far too long, organized criminal groups have been able to remain ahead and out of reach of law enforcement in the region,” said Esala Nayasi, Deputy Secretary General of the Pacific Island Forum Secretariat (PIFS). “Our region is under attack. Our people are under attack.”
The transit becomes the destination
Criminal organizations that were strategically targeting lucrative markets in Australia and New Zealand―where the street value of illicit commodities such as methamphetamine and cocaine is among the highest in the world―are now also targeting the Pacific’s transit countries.
Recent statistics gathered by Fiji’s Ministry of Home Affairs show a “worrying trend” in the escalating volume of methamphetamine seizures, with reports suggesting “a significant uptick” in the last year. The Ministry also notes that, not surprisingly, reports of increasing rates of addiction across the country are becoming common.
Beyond Fiji, Papua New Guinea and Tonga are also being targeted as destination countries for methamphetamine.
Cybercrime fear
There is also a boom in technology in the Pacific. A darker side of that progress is reaching the region, with the establishment of illegal cyber-related scam centres into which thousands of people are being trafficked for exploitation.
“It is sad that, every day, thousands of criminals go to work to steal the hard-earned money of innocent people across the globe, including here in the Blue Pacific Continent,” Nayasi said. “We cannot, and will not, let them win.”
Other types of cybercrime such as technology-facilitated gender-based violence, cyberfraud, and online child sexual exploitation and abuse are on the rise too, thanks to increased interconnectivity.
"As our world becomes increasingly connected through globalization, we find ourselves more vulnerable to transnational crime and security threats that know no borders,” said Solomon Islands’ Minister of Police National Security, Jimson Tanangada. “The country recognizes the urgency of collective action in addressing security threats.”
Understanding the landscape
Part of the efforts to address these threats start with governments’ awareness of and adherence to international standards that allow for the development of policy and legal systems to counter transnational organized at the national and regional levels.
“Only with an improved knowledge on the threats being faced do we enable a common understanding and the development of policies to address this,” said Matthew David Watson, coordinator of UNODC’s Pacific Island Transnational Organized Crime (TOC) programme, through which countries in the region are collaborating to increase their resilience and response to the threat. “With a common understanding, it is easier to incorporate functional and sustainable policies against transnational crime,” Watson added.
UNODC will has recently published a key report titled Transnational Organized Crime in the Pacific: Expansion, Challenges and Impact. The study describes what is known about the mechanics of contraband trafficking ―the what, who, how, and how much of illicit flows―and discusses their potential impact on governance and development in the Pacific.
Building effective strategies
At an intra-regional level, the Pacific TOC programme has supported the development of the Pacific Regional Transnational Organized Crime (TNOC) Disruption Strategy. The strategy includes many of the key points of the Organized Crime Strategy Toolkit, or Sherloc, including a whole-of-society and whole-of-government focus on the challenges faced. Addressing the important mechanisms of Mutal Legal Assistance (MLA) and its particular relevance within the Pacific at a time of expanding criminality, the programme has contributed to the development of Fiji's MLA and Extradition manuals and is actively working toward sharing this best practice across the region.
Acknowledging and championing work being carried out by partner agencies such as the Pacific Security College, the Pacific TOC programme has been supporting in-country workshops dedicated to the awareness, mobilization, and creation of national strategies around transnational crime, most recently in the Cook Islands and the Marshall Islands.
In close collaboration with the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, UNODC co-organized a regional multi-stakeholder event on organized crime strategies and gender and human rights mainstreaming in law and policy against organized crime. The event, in the context of UNODC’s global efforts to strengthen transnational organized crime strategies, brought together representatives from the Pacific Islands Forum Secretariat, countries across the Pacific, and civil society organizations such as the Drug Free World Fiji, the Pacific Island Association for NGOs, Integrity Fiji, and faith-based organizations such as the Pacific Council of Churches, as well as key UN partners such as the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, or OHCHR.
The Pacific region has the lowest ratification rate in the world to the UN Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) and its associated protocols. Through technical assistance projects, UNODC’s efforts are targeted towards developing policies and legislative frameworks that will allow the region to strengthen the rule of law across the region.
Supporting responses at national and local levels
So far, UNODC has provided support to build institutional capacities and augment the approach to addressing TOC challenges across 14 Pacific Island countries, namely Cook Islands, Fiji, Federated States of Micronesia, Kiribati, Nauru, Niue, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu, and Vanuatu.
Addressing the emerging threat of drug trafficking in Fiji, UNODC contributed to the development of Fiji’s Narcotic strategy, collaborating with the Ministry of Home Affairs and Immigration to convene a national symposium on illicit drugs. UNODC also partnered with local authorities to hold a national youth council in Dranikuila Village, Fiji, that brought together village chiefs, pastors and youth leaders to discuss strategies for preventing drug use and responding to addiction.
UNODC has strengthened capacities across the Federated States of Micronesia, where efforts have focused on raising awareness of TOC and anti-corruption in four states. UNODC’s TOC, anti-corruption and cybercrime experts have been supporting the Pacific Prosecution Association, which brought together the Directors of Public Prosecution across the Pacific to Fiji, resulting in a joint communique recognizing the value of effective regional networks for discussing emerging TOC issues, as well as the importance of sharing best practices to equip Pacific Island countries with the knowledge to best address incoming threats.
These comprehensive responses against transnational organized crime, supported by the Government of Australia, supplements ongoing work under different programmes as well as bilateral assistance programmes in the region.
“One key strength of the TOC programme is its integration with ongoing UNODC work on maritime crime, cyber, and corruption, to name just a few,” Watson said. “These synergies are what help us build more comprehensive and effective responses across the Pacific region.”
Click here to learn more about UNODC’s work in the Pacific Islands.
Click here to access the Transnational Organized Crime in the Pacific report.
