Indonesia Hosts Fifth Bali Conference On People Smuggling

Nusa Dua, Bali, April 1 (Antara) - Indonesia hosted the 5th Bali Regional Ministerial Conference on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime (BRMC V) on April 1-2, 2013 in Nusa Dua, Bali to discuss issues on people smuggling and transnational crimes. "Indonesian Foreign Minister Marty Natalegawa and his Australian counterpart Bob Carr planned to open the meeting and will serve as the Joint Chairman of BRMC V," said Indonesian Foreign Ministry on a press release here, Monday. The Senior Official Meeting (SOM) of BRMC V will be hold on April 1-2, while the Ministerial Meeting of the conference will be implemented on April 2-3. The members will conduct Joint Adhoc meeting in Australia on April 3, 2013. Director of Media and Information, Indonesian Foreign Ministry PLE Priatna said that Indonesia together with Australia, New Zealand, Thailand, as well as representatives from UNHCR and IOM become the members of Bali Process Steering Group. Meanwhile, Priatna said the six members of steering group along with eleven other states such as Afghanistan, Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Maldives, Myanmar, Pakistan, Philippines, Sri Lanka, United States of America and Vietnam become the members on Bali Process Ad Hoc Group Countries. The meeting is expected to result a joint statement about significant cooperation referrals on Bali Process in accommodating the people smuggling and human trafficking. Director General of Multilateral at Indonesian Foreign Ministry Dubes Hassan Kleib as well as Director of International Security and Disarmament Cooperation Febrian Ruddyard became the hosts of the international discussion on Monday. The first day of the meeting will be divided into four sessions and on the second day the BRMC V will be divided into three sessions and ended by joint statement. The BRMC V Forum was established in Bali on 2002 and become the only mechanism in eradicating the people smuggling and human trafficking which involve the origin countries, stopover countries and the destination countries. "Indonesia, frequently, being the stopover and destination country for people smuggling and also in particular level, the country becomes the victim of human trafficking crimes," said Priatna. Based on the consideration, Indonesian Foreign Ministry initiated the Ministerial Meeting as a mechanism for highly decision-making in Bali Process. At least several officials at Ministerial level from 49 members attend the international conference of the Fifth Bali Process, accompanied by 19 observer countries and 11 international organizations such as ADB, World Bank, UNDP, ILO, INTERPOL, ICMPD, IGC, IFRC, ICRC, and APC. The 19 observer countries consist of Austria, South Africa, Netherlands, Belgium, Canada, Denmark, European Commission, Finland, Germany, Italy, England, Norway, Poland, Romania, Russia Federation, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.