Malaysia, Australia Collaborate To Curb People Smuggling, Trafficking In Persons

KUALA LUMPUR, Nov 21 (Bernama) -- Malaysia and Australia have agreed to collaborate in a myriad of issues pertaining to people smuggling and trafficking in persons, Home Ministry secretary-general Mahmood Adam said on Sunday. He said the accord was reached at the two-day fourth meeting of the Malaysia-Australia Working Group on People Smuggling and Trafficking in Persons held in Melbourne on Nov 14 and 15. Outlining the important outcomes of the meeting in a statement, he said the two sides considered hosting a multilateral workshop on enhanced regional cooperation to deal with people smuggling and human trafficking, drawing on experiences of the Malaysian and Australian governments in the development of bilateral arrangements. They also considered possible approaches for greater involvement of source countries in regional collaboration in the spirit of the Regional Cooperation Framework under the Bali Process, he said. "Both sides agreed in principle to the inclusion of counter terrorism and human trafficking aspects under the Bilateral Technical Legal Working Group. Both sides agreed on the holding of a workshop on the prosecution of transnational crime," he said. Mahmood said both countries also agreed to continuing and enhancing intelligence-exchange cooperation, including further training opportunities for the enforcement agencies of both sides. The meeting also agreed in principle for Malaysia to co-host an Asean-Australia workshop on visa integrity in March next year, he said, adding that there was also agreement for both sides to co-host a Bali Process Ad-Hoc Group Technical Experts Meeting on Irregular Movement in May 2012. Mahmood said the working group meeting was a strong testimony of the existing excellent bilateral relations between Malaysia and Australia on security matters, particularly in deterring both crimes, including issues related to transnational crime. "It is also a strong reflection of what like-minded countries can achieve in the region in tackling the evolving regional people smuggling and trafficking in persons environment," he said. The working group meeting is hosted alternately by Malaysia and Australia. The meeting, mooted by Malaysia's Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein, held its inaugural meeting in Aug 2009 in Kuala Lumpur. -- BERNAMA Malaysia