Thailand, Indonesia agree to jointly address human trafficking-related issues

BANGKOK, May 22 (TNA) - Indonesia and Thailand have agreed to cooperate on addressing human trafficking-related issues based on the humanitarian principle, including those on illegal Rohingya and fishing migrants. Thai Defence Ministry Spokesman Major General Kongcheep Tantrawanit told journalists that the agreement was concluded during a meeting between Indonesian Defence Minister General Ryamizard Ryacudu and visiting Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Defence Minister General Prawit Wongsuwan in Jakarta, Indonesia's capital, on May 21. The spokesman said General Prawit, who oversees national security affairs, also invited the Indonesian defence minister to attend the one-day international special meeting on irregular migration in the Indian Ocean, to be hosted by Thailand on May 29, 2015. The spokesman stated that both sides also discussed problems in the fishery sector, including illegal fishing in the Indonesian waters by Thai fishermen, many of whom remain in Indonesian jails. According to the spokesman, the Thai deputy premier and defence minister informed the Indonesian defence minister that the Thai government is determined to help all the detained Thai fishermen to regain their freedom and to return home, calling on all Indonesian parties concerned to help resolve the crux and set free all stranded Thai fishermen in Indonesia. Besides, both sides agreed on strengthening military cooperation between Jakarta and Bangkok and then inked an accord on national defence cooperation. The Thai deputy prime minister and defence minister is now on three-day official visits to Indonesia and Singapore, scheduled for May 21-23. Meanwhile, Colonel Suttipong Chongpakdee, Deputy Director of the Internal Security Operations Command (ISOC) in seaside Ranong Province in the Thai South, told reporters that his office has informed local security agencies concerned to be on alert, following recent intelligence reports indicating that there would, probably, be another influx of over 2,000 Rohingya migrants into the province from May 29-June 3, 2015 to pressure Thailand to open a temporary shelter for the Rohingya Muslims. The deputy ISOC chief in Ranong acknowledged that the problem of illegal marine migration into Thailand's southern Andaman coastal areas has persisted for over 10 years with the number of illegal migrants, especially ethnic Rohingya Muslims from Myanmar's northern Rakhine State, having been rising yearly, as it takes about 15 days to travel by sea from the Rakhine State to Ranong. (TNA)