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Indonesia, East Timor call for regional body to combat people smuggling, trafficking
Jakarta Globe - March 4, 2011
Ismirah Lutfia – Indonesia and East Timor have called for the establishment of a regional body to combat the issue of people smuggling and asylum seekers.
Currently the Bali Process, an agreement that came out of a 2002 conference on human trafficking, is the only regional entity addressing the problem.
It calls for greater cooperation between Indonesia and Australia to combat human smuggling, including intelligence sharing and using law enforcement to go after smuggling networks. The next forum is expected to take place on March 29 and 30.
"That's when I guess Australia will have to make the case for this idea," Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa said on Friday in a joint press conference with his East Timor counterpart Zacaria Albano da Costa, who was leading a delegation to formally present East Timor's application to become a member of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (Asean).
Da Costa said that his country felt the issue was a regional problem, and therefore it was important that it was addressed in a regional forum.
Marty agreed. "But in so far as our two countries have both said, we remain steadfast in our belief that the solution to issues of this type requires a comprehensive solution involving all the parties concerned," Marty said, adding that it would need the involvement of countries of origin, countries of transit and countries of destination, something Indonesia and East Timor Leste have long been calling for.
"That has been our perspective and will remain to be the case," Marty said.
Indonesia is a stepping stone for people bent on entering Australia illegally.
In her first official visit to Indonesia in November, Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said that Canberra and Jakarta had agreed to step up cooperation in dealing with people smuggling and other transnational crimes, while President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono proposed a ministerial meeting be held in 2011 to discuss ways to combat people smuggling, including the need for a regional processing center.
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