Today the Foreign Affairs Committee published their report ‘Guns for Gold: the Wagner Network exposed’.
The Committee is calling for the Government to:
- Proscribe Wagner as a Terrorist Entity
- Sanction enablers and Wagner outfits especially in UK
- Create cross Government lead in Conflict Centre for PMCs
- Ratify the UN Mercenaries Convention
You can read the full report here.
Alicia Kearns MP, Chair of the Foreign Affairs Committee said:
“This is a landmark report and exposes the dark underbelly of a network that until recently thrived in the shadows.
“In the ten years since the Wagner Network’s formation, the UK Government has lacked a coherent strategy and efforts to meaningfully tackle Wagner have been non-existent. This has allowed the network to grow, spread its tentacles deep into Africa, and exploit countries on their knees due to conflict or instability.
“Where the West moves out, Wagner moves in, seeing opportunity in suffering and profit in chaos. Today’s report lays bare the activities of the network in seven key countries, where there is clear evidence of Wagner operations.
“The UK must provide an alternative for countries that are struggling; those who feel abandoned by the developed world and see the Wagner Network as a provider of security. Partnership with the Wagner Network is not just beneficial to the Russian Government, it is a foreign policy goal of the Kremlin to force failing states to rely on the Wagner Network.
“We are deeply concerned by the Government’s dismal lack of understanding of Wagner’s hold beyond Europe, in particular their grip on African states. This is a fundamental failing of joined up government; ministers appear to be in denial about the consequences of failing to tackle this malign business model before it takes hold.
“If we are to undermine the operations of the Wagner Network, we need to sever the network’s wealth at its source. We are calling for the Government to sanction organisations and individuals known to prop up Wagner – faster and harder than before. We are unconvinced that the Government’s ‘sanction’ of the group truly captures the complex web of entities beneath it.
“In the wake of the attempted coup last month, the future manifestations of the Wagner Network are uncertain. With the network at its most vulnerable – and the clock ticking – the time for action is now.”
