UNESCO has been combatting illicit trafficking in cultural property for 50 years, and the COVID-19 pandemic has brought about new challenges in the prevention and monitoring of trafficking during lockdown. At this difficult time, when surveillance and protection mechanisms as well as resources are hampered, we have seen closed museums targeted, archaeological sites subject to an alarming increase in illegal excavations, and a significant uptick in online art markets sales, accelerating the pace of trading and driving up prices of cultural objects such as archaeological artefacts — including those of dubious provenance.
