AUSTRALIA WELCOMES M`SIA`S NEW LAWS ON PEOPLE SMUGGLING

KUALA LUMPUR, July 16 (Bernama) -- The Australian Government Friday welcomed
the Malaysian Parliament's approval of new laws criminalising people smuggling.

Australian High Commissioner to Malaysia, Miles Kupa said the new laws would
help the country's law enforcement agencies build on successes they have already
had in combating people smuggling activities.

He said people smuggling, including children, has been a transational crime
that affected many countries throughout the region.

"The criminalisation of people smuggling will be a big step forward in
targeting those involved in organising and faciliting such activities, both for
Malaysia and the region," he said in a statement here, Friday.

On Thursday, the House of Representatives approved the Anti-Human
Trafficking Bill (Amendment) 2010, which includes fines up to RM1 million on
persons who profit from exploiting trafficked individuals.

Kupa said regional cooperation was vital to effectively tackling people
smuggling, and that the Australian government looked forward to continued
collaboration on the issue as both countries' law enforcement agencies had been
working closely to counter the problem.

"Discussions by the Malaysia-Australia Bilateral Technical Legal Working
Group on People Smuggling and Trafficking have an played important role in
identifying ways to legislate effectively against people smuggling in the two
countries," he said.

-- BERNAMA