Regional ministers begin people smuggling conferense

Regional ministers begin people smuggling conferense

Rita A. Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Nusa Dua, Bali

The second Regional Ministerial Conference on People Smuggling,
Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crimes will open
in Bali on Tuesday amid growing fears of a possible increase in
the crimes following the war in Iraq.

The three-day event, which was preceded by a series of senior
official meetings beginning Sunday morning, will focus on various
contentious topics regarding irregular migration of people and
cross-border crimes, which pose serious security, social and
economic problems for the affected Asia-Pacific countries.

Indonesian foreign minister Hassan Wirayuda and his Australian
counterpart Alexander Downer are scheduled to officially open the
conference.

Since the first regional conference, also held here in
February last year, a growing public awareness of subsequent
activities have put the issues of people smuggling, trafficking
and related transnational crimes on national and regional
agendas.

In his statement read in Jakarta during the preparatory
meeting for this year's conference, Hassan said the humanitarian
tragedy in Iraq and its potential to generate a new, irregular
flow of people would underline the urgency of this year's agenda.

In the last few years, hundreds of people from Afghanistan,
Iraq and other Middle Eastern countries have emigrated to a
number of Asia-Pacific countries, including Indonesia and
Australia, to escape wars and other calamities in their countries
of origin.

Many Iraqi people have already entered Indonesia illegally and
have settled in a number of provinces, including West Nusa
Tenggara, East Java and West Java.

The second Bali ministerial conference will review the
progress of the follow-up measures that have been taken in
combating people smuggling, trafficking in persons and related
transnational crimes.

The meeting seeks to formulate and refine the considerations
and notions that will become the substantive content of the Co-
Chairs' statement, which is to be the main outcome of the
conference. The statement is also expected to include recent
global and regional developments.

"The full global impact of Iraq and other wars and the
humanitarian disaster that it has brought about are yet to be
fully gauged, but a number of dire consequences are already
evident; refugees are streaming out of the country," Hassan said.

The outflow of refugees will not only strain the economies and
environments of neighboring countries, but will also create
lucrative hunting grounds for people smugglers and traffickers,
who prey on women and children displaced by war, he added.

"All sorts of transnational criminal networks are bound to
exploit the plight of the victims of such a massive conflict as
the one we are witnessing in Iraq," he said.

Humanitarian crises and other causes of irregular migrations
form the backdrop to the conference here, also referred to as
"The Bali Process".

Last year's conference produced a Co-Chairs' Statement that
established the foundation for bilateral and multilateral
cooperation among participating countries in regards people
smuggling and transnational crimes, including terrorism. The
statement also covered policies, legal frameworks and law
enforcement in dealing with the issues.

Hassan said after the conference, Indonesia would be revising
Law No. 9/1992 on immigration, which will include an amendment
categorizing people smuggling and trafficking in persons as
crimes.

As to the trafficking in women and children, Indonesia has
enacted Law No. 23/2002 on the protection of children. Further,
several presidential decrees have been issued to protect the
welfare of women and children through preventive measures and
enforcement.

Hassan mentioned that the number of recorded occurrences of
irregular migrations to Indonesia had declined steadily over the
past year.

Since l999, a total of 1,222 irregular migrants in Indonesia
have chosen to repatriate voluntarily or have settled in third
countries. In 2002 alone, after the first ministerial conference,
298 Afghani irregular migrants to Indonesia chose to return to
their homeland.

Thirty-nine countries from the Asia-Pacific region are
participating in this year's conference, which will also host
observers from 20 countries including delegates from Europe, the
United States and South Africa, and 16 regional and international
agencies such as the World Bank, ASEAN, the European Union, Asia
Pol and Interpol.