Exploitation of refugees from Syria or exploitation of plausible deniability by antiquities traffickers in Turkey?

On the 22nd of February, police stopped and searched a ‘suspicious’ vehicle on Alparslan Türkeş Avenue in the Çukurova municipality of Adana city (as opposed to the Çukurova district of Adana province), southern Turkey, then found and seized an 18th-century Christian icon, an “embroidery” of one of the Twelve Apostles on a piece of gazelle skin (178 centimetres by 75 centimetres), which had been ‘hidden’ in the boot of the car. (I heard the news through the Museum Security Network.)

crowdfunding for families of murdered excavation workers Anas Ibrahim and Adamu Abdulrahim

As I heard through Alison Atkin and Jacq Matthews, Zacharys Anger Gundu, Akinwumi Ogundiran and Willeke Wendrich have opened a crowdfunding account for donations to Support the Families of Two Murdered Janjela Heroes, Anas Ibrahim and Adamu Abdulrahim, the excavation workers who were killed when they tried to prevent the kidnap of archaeologists Peter Breunig and Johannes Behringer.

more and less information on the murder of excavation workers and kidnapping of archaeologists in Nigeria

More and less information has emerged in relation to the murder of excavation workers Anas Ibrahim and Adamu Abdulrahim and kidnapping of professor Peter Breunig and student Johannes Behringer. According to the Associated Press (AP) report, ‘Nigerian security forces… freed’ Breunig and Behringer.

The unfortunately phrased report observed that Kaduna State Governor Nasir Ahmad El-Rufai ‘commended the security agencies for their efforts in securing the release of the Germans’, though he did ‘not say whether anyone had been arrested for the kidnapping[s]’… or for the murders? (However, it was written by a journalist in Kaduna. Presumably, he used “kidnapping” to refer to the entirety of the event, including the murders.)

kidnapped German archaeologists, professor Peter Breunig and student Johannes Behringer, have been freed in Nigeria

Police have relayed that the two German archaeologists who were kidnapped for ransom, professor Peter Breunig and student Johannes Behringer, have been freed. ‘No ransom was paid when they were freed’, according to the police (paraphrased by Reuters, which I learned via Paul Barford); though, equally, no details were given. Presumably, the police are still in pursuit of the murderers of the attempted rescuers, excavation workers Anas Ibrahim and Adamu Abdulrahim. Events took place around Janjala/Janjela/Jenjela village, Kadarko/Kagargo/Kagarko area (near the road between Kaduna airport and Abuja city), southern Kaduna state, north-western Nigeria.

update and correction: unknown gunmen have killed two excavation workers, kidnapped two [now freed] archaeologists in Nigeria

Unfortunately, there has not been any more news on rescue efforts yet. However, I have found more reports with more details, so I have updated my post. Most importantly, I thought that the killed hunters had been security escorts, but other reports have shown that they were excavation workers. So, it is the case that five still-unknown gunmen (two with machetes, three with ‘heavy guns’) have killed two excavation workers, kidnapped two archaeologists in Nigeria. Most of the new information comes from interviews of Sani Aliyu and Usman Kagarko by Premium Times.

unknown gunmen have killed two excavation workers, kidnapped two [now freed] archaeologists in Nigeria

Around 8.55am on Wednesday morning, abductors with ‘guns and machetes’ kidnapped two archaeologists in Janjala/Janjela/Jenjela village, Kadarko/Kagargo/Kagarko area (near the road between Kaduna airport and Abuja city), southern Kaduna state, north-western Nigeria. Tragically, according to the Archaeological Association of Nigeria, local hunters and excavation workers Anas Ibrahim and Adamu Abdulrahim, ‘who intervened to abort the kidnap’, were shot and killed; the identities of the killed were also given by attempted rescuer Usman Kagarko.

key concepts in public archaeology: the archaeological profession and human rights

Human rights intertwine with archaeology around the work that is done, the material on which the work is done, the material that the work produces, the labourers who do the work and the communities amongst whom the work is done; equally, they intersect over the work that is not done, the material that is neglected, the narratives that are untold and the people who are marginalised.

I’m happy to say that I’ve contributed a chapter on the archaeological profession and human rights to key concepts in public archaeology, which is open access (OA), edited by Gabe Moshenska and published by UCL Press. (And he says that I don’t blog often enough, though he does have a proper job.)

I’m assisting with some assessment and planning in Jordan

This is just a note to say that, happily, I’m assisting with some assessment and planning in Jordan, so I’m going to be in Amman for several months. If anyone wants to discuss trafficking (or anti-trafficking), I’ll be around.

illicit trafficking, provenance research and due diligence… and confidence and risk

Last year, UNESCO hosted a round table on the movement of cultural property in 2016: regulation, international cooperation and professional diligence for the protection of cultural heritage. (See the programme.)