Bilateral cooperation 'needed to curb human trafficking'

Bilateral cooperation 'needed to curb human trafficking'

Wahyoe Boediwardhana, Nusa Dua, Bali

Indonesia must enhance its efforts and work on a bilateral basis
with other countries to curb the transnational trafficking of
women and children, a senior official said at an international
conference in Nusa Dua, Bali.

"It would be better if the government cooperates with those
countries whose nationals are directly involved (in human
trafficking) on a bilateral basis. A bilateral cooperation would
be far better than a multilateral cooperation, because several
regulations have yet to be ratified," Agency for National Legal
Development (BPHN) head Romli Atmasasmita said on Wednesday on
the sidelines of the 43rd Asia-Africa Legal Consultative
Organization (AALCO).

Representing over 30 countries from the two regions, 150
delegates are participating in this year's AALCO.

He said legal cooperation among Asian and African countries
was still very weak, and no commitment existed to discuss
concrete cooperative measures to be taken against regional
trafficking of women and children.

"Working groups in Asia and Africa must embark on a campaign
to synchronize their national legal systems if they want to make
laws against human trafficking. First, they should have a common
vision," said Romli, who presented a paper on "International
Cooperation on Combating Human Trafficking in Women and Children:
A View from Indonesia", at the AALCO talks.

Among the key issues on which the countries should establish a
common vision is extradition procedures for perpetrators and
repatriation procedures for victims of the crime.

Romli said countries of Asia and Africa should learn from the
European Union (EU), which has a speedy extradition process. The
EU system, he said, would make it easier for countries to
cooperate toward curbing human trafficking.

He was pessimistic about the outcome of the meeting because
Asian and African countries were not united in their efforts to
tackle crimes like human trafficking and terrorism.

The five-day conference, which was opened by President
Megawati Soekarnoputri on Monday and will end on Friday, aimed to
discuss the latest developments in transnational crimes,
effective international law instruments, anticorruption efforts,
maritime law, trafficking in women and children, and the Israeli
occupation of Palestine.