Survey report on the prevalence of illicit small arms in Sri Lanka

Sri Lanka is negatively affected by the proliferation and misuse of illicit small arms and the human costs of small arms related violence in the country are high. This creates significant challenges to law and order, peace and democratic governance. Saferworld was commissioned by the National Commission Against the Proliferation of Illicit Small Arms (NCAPISA) in Sri Lanka to conduct a national survey on small arms. The research was conducted in two phases: a pilot survey was conducted in Hambantota district between May and June 2006 and the national survey was conducted between November 2006 and April 2007.

Following a number of meetings with NCAPISA to look at the research results, the Survey Report on the Prevalence of Illicit Small Arms in Sri Lanka was approved by the Defence Secretary in March 2008. The report covers difficult issues important for public safety, the rule of law and democratic good governance in Sri Lanka. The report was launched in Colombo and at the UN in New York and is now a publicly available government document, despite the escalation in the conflict.

The survey can be downloaded in English, Sinhala and Tamil.