Bali Hosts Talks to Outlaw People Smuggling

Bali recently hosted an international forum on illegal trafficking of humans. Foreign Minister Bob Carr says that there are 37 countries that have jumped on board and agreed to outlaw people smuggling and these countries will be cracking down on illegal trafficking.

The conference got started with the Foreign Minister of Indonesia, Marty Natelegawa, asking for early detection and higher prevention of human trafficking and more effort in stopping people smuggling.

Immigration Minister Brendan O’Connor and Senator Carr attended the forum, in a closed session that involved 37 countries, all of who attended and agreed to engage law enforcement and their expertise along with training organizations to coordinate any crackdowns on human smuggling.

The meeting has resulted in the formation of a partnership with the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation. The focus is to increase the police and border security ability to respond to people smuggling. Senator Carr said other countries would need to assist the local law enforcement because the issue was far too big for one country to address on its own.

“One of the problems of increasing the intake out of Indonesia, and the Indonesian government have expressed concern about this themselves on occasions, is it creates a magnet for people to come to Indonesia,” Mr. Morrison said.

This forward thinking and desire to address issues such as people smuggling has actually been a benefit to the tourism industry, because travellers like to see social issues being addressed. While staying in the country, many of the delegates from the 37 different countries took advantage of the beautiful Bali villas that are available. In fact, for anyone planning a Bali vacation anytime soon, these are definitely worth exploring. Strategically located throughout the island they offer you just the type of vacation you had in mind, whether that means you are in the hub of things or tucked away in a rural area of Bali.