Small arms work in Russia
22 May 2006 As part of Saferworld and the PIR Center's ongoing work on small arms in Russia, in May 2006, the partners held a series of activities in Vlasivostok, in the Primorski region of Russia. The week consisted of two rounds of lectures at the Customs Academy and Vladivostok State University of Economics and Services, a public meeting for officials, the media and the local community and a civil society training workshop.The Primorski region in the eastern area of Russia faces a number of small arms challenges. Many people feel that small arms present a real threat, particularly coming from street crime in smaller towns. In great part the problem stems from the time when, after the USSR break-up, numerous arms and pieces of ammunition went missing from poorly secured army stockpiles. For a border region, the smuggling of small arms is also a problem. At the Customs Academy, partners brought together a number of experienced customs officers to discuss how to improve law enforcement and regional cooperation. During the week's events, the severity of the problem of illegal arms was made clear. There large number of illegal weapons in the region has led to some serious community safety issues, for example participants spoke of armed gang members shooting indiscriminately at civilians. Many at the events had had some personal experience of small arms. Saferworld and the PIR-Center has held similar events in Moscow, Novosibirsk and St Petersburg, but it was apparent that the problems of illegal weapons in Primorski were the most serious. The participants welcomed the opportunity to talk openly about these issues, and began to plan an awareness-raising campaign in the region.
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