Chapter 3 – The National Security Context 17 3.12 Many drivers of instability are likely to persist over the medium to long term, including social inequality and exclusion, demographic changes, rapid and unplanned urbanisation, climate change, and global economic and other shocks. This is why we have chosen to focus more of our development effort on building stability overseas in fragile states. Migration 3.13 Migration is a global challenge. Instability, extremism and conflict in the Middle East and Africa have displaced millions of people in recent years. Many have sought to travel to Europe, creating a humanitarian challenge and pressures across the EU. Longer-term trends, including increased access to information through mobile technology and social media, are adding to the drivers of migration, as are the activities of criminal networks. As we and others look to deal with the consequences of protracted conflicts, we will need coordinated work with multilateral agencies and countries that are hosting large numbers of refugees, to help improve livelihoods and give displaced people the best possible prospects as close to home as possible. In the light of migration pressures, it will also be vital that we further strengthen our ability to control migration, to offer protection to those who need it, and to ensure that the border, immigration and citizenship system can manage migration overseas, at the UK border and within the UK. Serious and organised crime 3.14 Serious and organised crime has a direct impact on our security, economy and reputation. It costs the UK at least £24 billion every year. The most significant types include cyber crime, child sexual exploitation and abuse, illegal firearms, organised immigration crime, drug trafficking, economic crime including fraud, money laundering and bribery and corruption. The volume and severity of serious and organised crime threats to the UK are growing, as more services and transactions take place online, internet access expands across Africa and Asia, and technology develops. 3.15 The UK remains the largest centre for cross-border banking, accounting for 17% of the total global value of international bank lending and 41% of global foreign exchange trading. But substantial funds from crime conducted around the world are laundered through London, including in the UK’s foreign exchange turnover which is reported as $2.7 trillion in London daily. Closer partnership between government and the financial sector is important in order better to understand the problem and develop innovative solutions. Global health security 3.16 The risks to health security will continue to grow as the world becomes more physically interconnected through travel. Countries and regions with weak health services or where government ability to respond is poor are especially vulnerable. The Ebola outbreak in West Africa is an example. There has been no onward transmission in the UK, though we exercised local response plans in preparation. But in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea the height of the outbreak led to thousands of deaths and significant disruption to development efforts designed to build stability and a more sustainable future. 3.17 The emergence and spread of microbes with the potential to cause pandemics and the rise of drug resistance, including Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR), are significant concerns. They will require greater and more coordinated action at local, national, regional and global levels. No single nation can act alone on such transnational threats. The UK has taken a