The Report Crimes Associated with Critical Minerals in Southeast Asia: Trends, Challenges and Solutions, offers a regionally focused analysis of the risks and vulnerabilities posed by illicit activity in the critical minerals sector. As Southeast Asia’s role in supplying minerals is essential to the global energy transition and digital technologies expand, so too does its exposure to environmental crime, corruption, and illicit financial flows.

Chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) incidents pose a significant threat to global safety and security. These events can result in devastating human, environmental, and economic consequences, while also undermining public trust and social stability. Effectively managing CBRN risks requires a coordinated and strategic approach—one that goes beyond immediate response to include long-term planning, capacity building, and interagency collaboration.

This report, jointly published by UNICRI and VOX-Pol, investigates the underexplored phenomenon of right- and left-wing violent extremist groups in the Global South and their abuse of digital technologies. As technology evolves at an unprecedented pace, violent extremist actors increasingly exploit digital platforms, posing complex and multifaceted threats to national and global security.