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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | Informal cross-border trade and arms smuggling along the Uganda-Rwanda border |
Author: | Alusala, Nelson |
Year: | 2010 |
Periodical: | African Security Review (ISSN 2154-0128) |
Volume: | 19 |
Issue: | 3 |
Pages: | 15-26 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | East Africa |
Subjects: | illicit trade boundaries national security East African Community arms trade |
External link: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/10246029.2010.519875 |
Abstract: | On 1 July 2010, the regional bloc comprising Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi launched the common market which provides for the free movement of labour, goods, services, capital and the right of establishment in the East African Community (EAC) region. This article evaluates the security challenges that are likely to occur along the international borders in East Africa with the advent of the EAC. In an attempt to illustrate the porosity of borders and the likelihood that criminals could take advantage of the situation, the author describes the ease with which transnational crime could thrive (in the absence of efficient border security measures) under the guise of informal cross-border trade that derives its basis largely from the customs and historical linkages in the region. While the danger is not alarmingly high, there is a likelihood that with the opening up of the EAC to the free movement of goods and people, criminals will exploit this freedom to commit crimes such as human trafficking, arms and drug smuggling and moving terrorists and contraband goods unless mechanisms are put in place to curtail these activities. Should this not happen, the mission of the East African Community could be jeopardized. The article is based on research carried out at two border posts in southwestern Uganda at the Rwandese border. Notes, ref., sum. (p. VI). [Journal abstract] |