The Institute for Security Studies (ISS) and the Global Initiative against Transnational Organized Crime, in conjunction with the Hanns Seidel Foundation hosted a the one-day expert conference on “Trails of Insecurity: Illicit migration as a source of threat financing and criminal resourcing in Africa”. The event took place on 19 January 2016 in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.

The focus of the conference will be on the use of migration as a source of threat financing and the resourcing to criminal groups in Africa. The objectives of the meeting are to debate how to counter migration as a source of illicit financing used by criminal groups, and to understand the changing dynamics the region experiences by engaging both national and regional experts as well as policy makers. The Global Initiative and ISS will also use this conference as an opportunity to launch a research paper commissioned by the Hanns Seidel Foundation, titled Survive and Advance: the economics of smuggling refugees and migrants into Europe.

The conference brought together around 30 regional and international registrants who have specific expertise in the understanding, analysing and responding to criminal and threat financing. The seminar panels provided numerous opportunities to gain new knowledge, share experiences, network with colleagues, and discuss new ideas.

The outcomes of this closed-door conference have been made available in the conference report “Trails of Insecurity: Illicit migration as a source of threat financing and criminal resourcing in Africa“.