Iraq/Syria: regulation of the antiquities market, including online trading, could cut funding of ISIS and other paramilitaries

Kathleen Caulderwood followed up on antiquities trafficking funding for ISIL/ISIS(1) activity for International Business Times and Business Insider.

She draws on Peter Campbell’s study of illicit antiquities networks to highlight that online trading in illicit antiquities is a significant problem, which is probably a noteworthy means of arranging transactions (whether they are low-end eBay-style public auctions or high-end Skype-style private deals).

Caulderwood also draws on the work of the Financial Action Task Force (FATF) and Rick St. Hilaire to highlight the potential for regulation of antiquities trading to stem the laundering of antiquities. St. Hilaire has proposed a system for ‘spotlighting black market antiquities with record keeping laws’…

Notes

1: the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) or Islamic State of Iraq and al-Sham (ISIS) is known in Arabic as Da’ash or Da’esh.

conflict antiquities