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In The Press -- Conferences

Asia Pacific Vulnerable to People Smuggling
By Rita A. Widiadana and Wahyoe Boedhiwardhana, The Jakarta Post, Dateline Nusa Dua, Bali, April 30, 2003
and
Ministers Vow to Continue Fight Against "Grisly" Illegal Immigration Trade
By Mike Corder, Associated Press Newswires, Dateline Bali, Indonesia, April 30, 2003
and
People-Trading Now Accompanied by Other Transnational Crimes, Says Downer
Antara -- The Indonesian National News Agency, Dateline Nusa Dua, Bali, April 29, 2003
       Ministers and senior government officials from 39 countries in the Asia Pacific concluded three-days of talks April 30 at the Second Regional Ministerial Conference on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime held in Bali, Indonesia. The event was co-hosted by Australia and Indonesia.
       Representatives from 20 additional countries -- including Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the United States -- also attended as did delegations from 16 international organization.
       The consensus was that progress had been made in controlling people smuggling since the first conference was held in Bali in February last year. According to Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer, the "Bali process" has achieved much in building contacts between governments and law enforcement officials.
       Downer is quoted as saying: "The Bali process doesn't legislate. The Bali process doesn't force anybody to do anything. But what it does do is provide frameworks; it provides contexts; it provides priorities. And I think it has been extraordinarily successful."
       Downer also noted that people-smuggling increasingly involves other transnational crimes such as weapons and drug smuggling and money laundering. All endanger not only national security but impact the political, economic and socio-cultural environment of nations, he said.
       The Ad-Hoc Experts' Working Group on Legislative Framework, Policy Issues and Law Enforcement, led by Thailand's General Krerkphong Pukprayura, has completed a survey of the various laws nations have in place pertaining to people smuggling. The survey also discusses networks of cooperation among relevant law enforcement agencies.

Regional Ministers Begin People Smuggling Conference
By Rita A. Widiadana, The Jakarta Post, Dateline Nusa Dua, Bali, April 29, 2003
and
Indonesia Says Iraq Unilateralism Weighs on Summit
By Joanne Collins, Reuters News, Dateline Bali, April 29, 2003
and
Australia Says People-Smuggling Clampdown Bolsters National Security
By Mike Corder, Associated Press Newswires, Dateline Bali, April 29, 2003
       The second Regional Ministerial Conference on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crimes opened in Bali April 29. Indonesia and Australia are co-hosting the event.
       More than 300 delegates, including some 30 ministers, from the Asia-Pacific, Middle East and Europe are attending the three-day conference.
       In an address at the opening session, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer emphasized that tighter control of illegal immigration would bolster national security in an era plagued by terrorism.
       Indonesia's Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda is quoted as saying: "Unilateralism has brought about a gruesome war in Iraq and a new level of human suffering.... The full global impact of Iraq and other wars and the humanitarian disaster that it has brought about are yet to be fully gauged, but a number of dire consequences are already evident; refugees are streaming out of the country."
        There are many Iraqis who have already entered Indonesia illegally; they can be found in the provinces of West Nusa Tenggara, East Java and West Java. Indonesia, where laws against people smuggling are just now being considered, is a favored transit country for illegal immigrants from the Middle East trying to reach Australia.
       Australia, on the other hand, has adopted tough policies against asylum seekers. It detains all illegal immigrants it catches and imposes a maximum 20-year prison sentence on people smugglers. The clampdown has produced results: No boats carrying illegal immigrants have reached Australian shores since February 2002.
       At the first meeting last year, agreements were made to improve cross-border cooperation and to toughen laws against people smuggling and human trafficking. This meeting will review the progress made to date and refine goals that will be contained in the co-chairs' statement, which will be the major outcome of this conference.
       See the co-chairs' statement from 2002.

People Smuggling Conference Opens in Shadow of Jakarta Terror Attack
By Mike Corder, Associated Press Newswires, Dateline Bali, Indonesia, April 28, 2003
and
Ministers Take Aim at People Smuggling
By Alison Rehn, The Courier-Mail, (Queensland Newspapers Pty Ltd) April 28, 2003
       Ministers and delegates representing 32 countries are attending a three day conference in Bali to discuss security and people-smuggling issues.
       The conference, which runs from April 28-30, is cohosted by Australia and Indonesia.
       "Officials say there is no direct link between terrorism and people smuggling," Corder writes, "but efforts to tackle one can have spinoffs for the other -- for example people traffickers and terrorists may use the same forgers for fraudulent identification and travel documents."
       Corder quotes Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer as saying: "There...is a recognition in an era of international uncertainty that knowing the identity of who is moving where between countries is a very important component of national security, and I think that's well recognized throughout the region."
       The conference opened the day after a bomb exploded at Jakarta's international airport injuring 11 people. Conference attendees are just a few miles from the Balinese vacation town of Kuta, where bombs detonated October 12, 2002 at two bars killed 202 people.