What's the opinion on certain high risk countries where there's a high likelihood of the artifacts simply being destroyed? If I remember correctly ISIS and other similar organizations have burned or bombed several historical sites before.
Museums should participate in cultural exchange, if a museum feels under threat then they have channels they can trust to protect their artifacts until they can be returned
If you run a museum in Afghanistan and are afraid that the Taliban is going to execute you unless you destroy some blasphemous statue, are you going to risk your life to send the artifact to the British Museum, or are you just going to destroy it? Yeah, some heroes will definitely risk their lives, but most won't.
The alternative isn't "nothing", it's getting precious cultural artifacts out of high risk countries where there's a high likelihood of the artifacts simply being destroyed.
We have to be extremely wary of people who cite that because it's so easily used as a justification for artifact theft and can have deep roots in racism.