Govt to host second meeting on Irregular Migration in Indian Ocean

BANGKOK, 27 November 2015 (NNT) – The Royal Thai Government will organize an International Conference on Irregular Migration in the Indian Ocean on December 4, 2015 in Bangkok.

The Conference seeks to follow up on the progress in addressing problems of irregular migration in the Indian Ocean based on recommendations, put forward during the Special Meeting on Irregular Migration in the Indian Ocean held on May 29, 2015 in Bangkok, and a subsequent Emergency ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime held on July 2, 2015 in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

The Conference will be opened by Foreign Affairs Minister Don Pramudwinai and chaired by Foreign Affairs Ministry undersecretary Apichart Chinwanno.

Although rigorous attempts by Thailand and other countries in the region to crack down on transnational criminal networks involved in human smuggling and human trafficking have resulted in substantial reductions in unfortunate incidents in the Indian Ocean since the May meeting, more efforts will be done to solve the problems effectively and permanently. Affected countries in the region must work together to address the root causes as well as all contributing factors, given international solidarity and shared responsibility.

In this connection, the Royal Thai Government is inviting senior officials from five affected countries, namely Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Myanmar and Thailand, and representatives of related partners such as the United States, Australia, Japan, Switzerland and the European Union as well as international organizations, such as the UNHCR, IOM, UNODC, and UNDP to attend the conference with aims to find ways and means to foster more concrete actions.

The Conference will focus on, inter alia, the protection of migrants on-board, the establishment of an informal mechanism on law enforcement to address the problems of irregular migration and to dismantle smuggling and trafficking networks, the implementation of a joint information campaign to showcase actual risks of irregular migration and to seriously deter, combat and eradicate smuggling and trafficking rackets in the region.

Also, measures to address the root causes of migration, including socio-economic conditions of the risk communities, are expected to be discussed during the Conference.

-- NNT 2015-11-27

Should be an interesting conference.

Hope they spend lavishly on it.

'Push the boat out' so to speak.

I'm sure they will discuss a lot at the conference....talk is easy, but real action is a different story.