Nusa Dua (Antara Bali)- Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP
Marsudi and her Australian counterpart Julie Bishop officially opened
the Sixth Bali Process Ministerial Conference on People Smuggling,
Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime, here, Wednesday.
Retno Marsudi in her opening remarks emphasized that the Bali
Process must be able to deal with emergency situations, strengthen its
law enforcement mechanisms, answer humanitarian question, and contribute
in addressing the root causes to achieve durable solutions to irregular
migration.
She recalled that in May 2015, the Bali Process was not able to
address sudden movements of irregular migration in the Andaman Sea and
the Bay of Bengal.
Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand were impacted by the influx of Rohingya refugees from Myanmar and Bangladesh.
"This must not happen again. Indonesia believes, in this case,
humanitarian aspect must prevail. It was for this reason that Indonesia
went the extra mile in accepting irregular migrants last year. But the
task at hand is much bigger than one country can handle by itself.
Therefore, we need to establish a special mechanism that would allow us
to address this collectively," the minister stated.
To continue the efforts of strengthening the law enforcement of the
Bali Process, she suggested the enhancement of intelligence
cooperation, joint and coordinated operations, cooperation between
border-control and prosecuting authorities, as well as maritime security
cooperation.
She also urged cooperation to expedite the processing of asylum seekers and refugees.
Principle of burden sharing between origin, transit, and
destination countries must be put into concrete actions, she noted.
"The role of relevant international organizations, such as UNHCR and
IOM and civil society must also be included in the process," she said.
The reduction of poverty, unemployment and environmental degradation
is also needed to address the root of causes, she noted.
"On behalf of the co-chairmanship, I thank all delegations for the
commitment to addressing the problems of people smuggling and human
trafficking. With such a commitment, our cooperation has become stronger
in facing challenges in the future," Minister Retno Marsudi remarked.
The Bali Process Conference was attended by 45 member countries, 17
observer countries, and several UN bodies such as the United Nations
High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International
Organization for Migration (IOM). (WDY)
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