RI moves to stop people smuggling
Tertiani ZB Simanjuntak, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Overwhelmed by a flood of illegal migrants, the Indonesian government, in cooperation with Australian authorities, will develop a regional plan of action to tackle the problem, which is believed to involve well-organized transnational crime syndicates.
Minister of Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirayuda said on Thursday that people smuggling and trafficking and other transnational crimes, including drug trafficking and money laundering, had become major concerns for the international community.
"Bilateral cooperation is not enough ... a comprehensive approach is needed involving all countries relating to the source, the transit points and the destination countries involved in illegal migration," Wirayuda said.
Speaking at the opening of a meeting called to lay the groundwork for a Regional Ministerial Conference on people smuggling in Bali next month, Wirayuda said such global efforts were indispensable in deterring "the activity that involved so many people and billions of dollars of business."
Thursday's meeting was attended by representatives of 37 countries, mainly from the Asia-Pacific region, as well as others including Iran, Iraq, Syria and Jordan, with the European Union and the United States taking part as observers.
The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) were also in attendance and will participate in the ministerial conference, to be held in Bali on Feb. 27 and 28.
Indonesia has become a busy transit point for, as of last year, no less than 3,526 illegal migrants, mostly from strife- torn Middle Eastern countries and Afghanistan, who have been trying to reach Australia or New Zealand.
Australian co-chair Geoff Raby said that the meeting would recommend concrete practical steps "to make the region more secure against illegal migration."
His Indonesian counterpart Marty M. Natalegawa added that the dialog was also aimed at finding common ground on the issue so that there would be no more negative reactions should one country fail to resettle illegal migrants.
Wirayuda said the upcoming conference would be part of the process of reconciliation between Indonesia and Australia, highlighted by Australian Prime Minister John Howard's first official trip to Jakarta from Feb. 6 to 8.