Free-trade policy could lead to greater abuse

Regional integration under the AEC will bring positive and welcome changes and provide the region with access to knowledge and the power to communicate, but it also will provide opportunities for transnational organised crime syndicates to expand and prosper, the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has warned.

Southeast Asia continues to be one of the most rapidly developing regions in the world, and the advent of the AEC will create a single, regional common market of more than 600 million people that facilitates a greater free flow of goods, services, investment, capital and labour.

“However, regional integration under the AEC will doubtless also make possible the increased mobility of illicit goods, including drugs, illicit wildlife and timber, and counterfeit products,” the UN agency says in the report “Transnational Organised Crime in East Asia and the Pacific: A Threat Assessment”.

“It is inevitable that organised criminal groups will utilise the improved transportation connections and take advantage of the streamlined border controls to smuggle illicit goods throughout the region and beyond.”

The report, released on Tuesday, is based on what UNODC describes as its “first comprehensive study on transnational organised crime threats in East Asia and the Pacific”. The report examines the manner in which criminal enterprises have developed alongside legitimate commerce in recent years, creating contraband markets valued at about US$90 billion (Bt2.7 trillion) annually.

We knew before the AEC concept was ever mooted about illicit trafficking in drugs, protected animals and animal parts, and migrant workers. It is unfortunate that various agencies continue to identify and condemn Thailand as a major transit point for the smuggling. There is indeed concern among law-enforcement officials about the possible increase in crime that seems likely to come with implementation of the AEC.

Foreign criminals appear to have exploited Thailand’s relatively generous immigration policy, particularly when they enter the country under the guise of tourists. Criminals are entering from neighbouring countries and from as far away as South America. They include petty criminals – pickpockets, credit-card fraudsters and minor drug-dealers – as well as money launderers and terrorists. All have added to the country’s already serious crime rate. 

The UN agency says reducing the threat posed by transnational organised crime will require concrete action, not just political will alone. It suggested four imperatives: understand the problem by acquiring up-to-date information on organised crime; establish a framework for a response; build technical capacity to better counter organised crime; and expand regional partnerships to tackle the problem more efficiently.

To reduce the threat of transnational organised crime after the AEC comes into being, Asean countries need to heed the advice of the UNODC, which has the goal of equipping governments with the means to handle issues relating to drugs, crime, terrorism and corruption. The governments of Asean need to work together more closely and turn their national responses into an international strategy. They must promote partnerships across borders and develop an international network that could expand beyond Asean. 

All Asean countries should be involved in the effort – not a single member should be exempted, to ensure it doesn’t become a safe (or safer) haven for transnational crime networks. 

“It takes a network to defeat a network” is good advice from the UN agency that should be heeded by all countries in the region. The fight to protect the AEC against transnational organised crime cannot begin soon enough.