Anti-People Smuggling Campaign Has Made Progress

By Neville DCruz MELBOURNE, Nov 16 (Bernama) -- The fourth meeting of the Malaysia-Australia Working Group on people smuggling and trafficking in persons had made significant progress since 2009, Minister of Home Affairs Brendan O’Connor said Tuesday. O’Connor, who opened the two-day meeting here, said the forum had become "a key pillar of our bilateral relationship with Malaysia". “This meeting has been fruitful and productive, setting out future cooperative activities in a range of areas, including border management, legal cooperation, maritime surveillance and interdiction, law enforcement and intelligence sharing," the minister said in a statement. “Our operational successes in combating people smuggling and related transnational crimes, including the arrest of more than 20 people smuggling facilitators since November 2010, demonstrates what we can achieve through cooperation in the region.” O’Connor said the Arrangement on Transfer and Resettlement between Australia and Malaysia was an excellent example of like-minded countries cooperating to address regional challenges and offered a real prospect of breaking the people smuggling business model. He said his counterpart, Malaysia’s Home Minister Hishammuddin Tun Hussein, had noted the fourth working group provided an opportunity to find the best way forward with regard to developing a sustainable regional response to irregular migration. Positive outcomes of the meeting include the agreement between Malaysia and Australia to enhance intelligence sharing and to work together to explore practical approaches to implement the Regional Cooperation Framework agreed upon by Bali Process Ministers in March this year. “Australia is committed to strengthening and expanding its cooperation with Malaysia on people smuggling and human trafficking, recognising that effective action to address regional challenges like these requires a regional approach involving the engagement of a range of agencies from partner countries,” said O’Connor. -- BERNAMA