Orphans and Icons: Small Arms Control and Armed Groups in Southeast Asia

Abstract

Over the past decade, the international community has initiated programmes and policies to redress the worldwide availability and circulation of small arms and light weapons. These efforts are principally aimed at curbing the illicit transfer and retransfer of small arms and light weapons. This study evaluates small arms control as it relates to non-state armed groups in Southeast Asia. It is guided by the research question “to what extent does the current small arms control architecture affect how armed groups in Southeast Asia obtain, retain and surrender their weapons?” The core findings of the study are that there are three defining features of the illicit small arms proliferation pattern in Southeast Asia, augmented by two enduring themes. Combined, these features and themes contribute to a more nuanced appreciation of the illicit small arms proliferation and control dynamic in the region. The first feature is that the current illicit diffusion dynamic in Southeast Asia is that of a “mature” market, which has characteristics that the current control architecture does not address. This mature small arms market is distinguished by a tendency for armed groups to obtain weapons from sources that are mostly internal to the conflict zone. The second defining feature is that the disarmament of armed groups appears to have a number of intangible dimensions. Appreciating the importance of these intangible dimensions becomes particularly apparent when looking at the third feature of the small arms proliferation and control dynamic, which is the characteristics of demand for small arms by armed groups in Southeast Asia. Running parallel to these three features are two sub-themes. The first is termed “sufficiency”. The numbers of groups, and more particularly of combatants and weapons in this region, do not appear to be particularly large. Given the duration of many conflicts in this region however, there is clearly a sufficiency of each. Sufficiency also underscores the credibility of a disarmament process. The second sub-theme is the creation and nurturing of paramilitaries and private armies, which may be growing. These findings are reflective of, but not necessarily restricted to, the examples studied in this region. The study suggests that the current control measures do not fully capture the proliferation dynamic as it appears in Southeast Asia at the present time. It argues that reconceptualising the current small arms proliferation and control paradigm may prove beneficial. In particular, an extended small arms control architecture may capture the spectrum of small arms proliferation that is particularly evident in Southeast Asia. This extended architecture involves a deeper and broader approach to the control of small arms and light weapons. Show more