The Thai Government is to organize a special meeting on Irregular Migration in the Indian Ocean on 29 May 2015 in Bangkok. The meeting is held in response to an urgent call for the region to comprehensively work together to address an unprecedented increase of human trafficking criss across the Bay of Bengal in recent years, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tanasak Patimapragorn said on Tuesday.
BANGKOK, 12 May 2015 – The Thai Government is to organize a special meeting on Irregular Migration in the Indian Ocean on 29 May 2015 in Bangkok. The meeting is held in response to an urgent call for the region to comprehensively work together to address an unprecedented increase of human trafficking criss across the Bay of Bengal in recent years, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tanasak Patimapragorn said on Tuesday.
He emphasized that the increasing complexity of the problem demands a multi-faceted approach. Countries of origin, transit, and destination must work together to solve the problem at its roots along with all contributing factors.
The minister affirmed Thailand’s commitment in this cooperative and coordinated approach. Thailand will join the upcoming ratification of the ASEAN Convention Against Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (ACTIP) to be signed at the 27th ASEAN Summit in Kuala Lumpur in November 2015.
The one-day meeting on Irregular Migration in the Indian Ocean will see senior officials from 15 affected countries participating. They include among others, Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Bangladesh, and the U.S. as observers. The meeting will be opened by Gen Tanasak and chaired by Norachit Sinhaseni, Permanent Secretary for Foreign Affairs.
Also attending are many relevant international organizations namely UNHCR, IOM, and UNODC. They will jointly push forward the progress of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime. It will also follow up on the existing work done on this issue, particularly the Special Ministerial Conference on Irregular Movement of Persons held in Jakarta in 2013.
The special meeting serves as a forum for exchanges of information and intelligence on the issues as well as for demonstrating their strong commitment to boost their cooperation with more concrete actions.
