Glasgow Centre for International Development

Nepal and Myanmar are both renowned for their cultural heritage, especially their sacred artefacts. Due to a global demand for these items, material culture in these countries continues to disappear from monuments, public and private collections, and archaeological sites.  Currently, there is no official reporting mechanism and a lack of available data on the causes, consequences and challenges of archaeological looting.

Dr Emiline Smith from the University of Glasgow has investigated local community-based security models in Nepal and Myanmar to assess why looting of cultural heritage takes place and the effect this has on social cohesion.

Crime prevention

Funding of £49K from the SFC Global Challenges Research Fund enabled Dr Smith to travel to Nepal and Myanmar to interview legal and cultural heritage specialists including government officials, policymakers, museum curators, community leaders, non-governmental organisation (NGO) representatives, activists and law enforcement.  The common theme from the interviews with these stakeholders found that many people are committed to ending the theft, looting and trafficking of antiquities but there is no system to unify these efforts.

Dr Smith explains, “The research looks at both the global network and the local context of illicit trade, so we can identify weak points in the trafficking chain where we can effectively intervene. We have investigated interdisciplinary approaches to improve understanding of national and local crime prevention strategies to counter illicit antiquities trafficking—to see what works and what does not.”

Addressing the issues

Criminology is currently an underdeveloped academic field in both Nepal and Myanmar and the research team brought together foreign expertise and in-country capacity to advance knowledge in this area.

Whilst there is recognition that there is a global demand for the countries’ cultural heritage which has led to statues and artefacts being stolen from places of worship, museums and monuments in local communities, there is an absence of more sustainable income sources within the countries, leading to the continuation of looting and trafficking.

Cultural heritage can provide a source of pride, unity, and social cohesion within low-to-middle-income countries (LMICs) and it is also a source of economic development. Countering the looting, trafficking and destruction of cultural heritage, and restoring national pride by repatriatin, cultural objects held abroad, contributes to more inclusive and resilient communities.

To address these challenges, Dr Smith worked with colleagues from the University of Oxford; United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO) Yangon; Myanmar Archaeology Association (MAA) and the International Council on Monuments and Sites (ICOMOS), to undertake a thorough criminological overview of the networks in place to loot, traffic and destroy cultural heritage and an assessment of potential intervention points.

The research led to the creation of a report for Department of Archaeology on future strategies to combat antiquities trafficking and improve the effectiveness of relevant legislation, policy and law enforcement. The report also analysed the effectiveness of current formal and informal crime prevention methods.

Building a network

The research team are keen to build a new working group with various stakeholders to consult when a cultural object goes missing or needs to be repatriated.  To create this network, the team have hosted various advisory meetings and a capacity building session, attended by 67 participants at the Department of Archaeology in Nepal. The project team provided training on how to document cultural heritage and how to recognise and document looting. They also provided information on protective frameworks that surrounding countries have adopted to identify potential prevention strategies for Nepal.

The team also organised a knowledge exchange workshop at the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation for 55 participants including representatives of government, law enforcement, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), charities and community activism groups. Following presentations from the research team, Nepal Police on formal crime prevention strategies and a

museum specialist on repatriation efforts, a two-hour long roundtable took place to discuss the challenges to create a system of community-driven protection of cultural property.

The project has brought together academic and non-academic collaborators to create a new, interdisciplinary network to focus on the key issues and challenge to tackle the looting of cultural heritage. The network’s report ‘Strategic Planning for the Department of Archaeology’ will contribute to policy development to combat the illicit antiquities trade.

The research has led to the development of a database for Nepal’s Department of Archaeology, a repository of missing artefacts which will strengthen efforts to counter looting and destruction and increase protection of cultural heritage.

Future Engagement

Dr Smith and the project team are keen to continue to build capacity in Nepal and Myanmar to protect and preserve their cultural heritage. Research in Myanmar was cut short due to the Covid-19 pandemic, however, the research team will resume this work when possible to complete the overview of the protection and destruction of cultural property within this country.

The development of the new collaboration has led to a further funding application for SFC GCRF Small Grants 2020-21 funding and a new research proposal is in development for the UK Research and Innovation Newton Fund to expand the network to Indonesia and include the growing problem of wildlife trafficking.

Key facts

• Collaboration with international partners to provide an evidence-based overview of looting of cultural heritage in Nepal and Myanmar.
• ‘Strategic Planning for the Department of Archaeology’ report published for the Ministry of Culture, Tourism and Civil Aviation on future strategies to combat antiquities trafficking.
• The research team have created a database of Nepal’s stolen artefacts to increase protection of cultural heritage
• The research will lead to more effective crime prevention strategies, policy change and increased public awareness of the effects of looting and trafficking of antiquities

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First published: 24 May 2021