MALAYSIA AND AUSTRALIA TO FIGHT HUMAN TRAFFICKING

KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 (Bernama) - Malaysia and Australia Wednesday reached
accord on having high committment to fight the smuggling and trafficking of
humans, a matter that has much importance for both countries.

Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said the matter was an issue that needed
to be addressed in a bilateral and regional context.

For that, he said the political will of both countries was very much needed
to ensure all agencies were involved for good cooperation.

He said Prime Minister Mohd Najib Abdul Razak had also agreed on his
ministry putting greater effort to handle the matter that had led to the
world viewing Malaysia as a transit point.

"In my meeting, along with the Australian Prime Minister's Security Advisor,
Duncan Lewis, with the prime minister, the prime minister said efforts to fight
the menace would continue in an orderly manner as both countries wanted to
ensure the problem would be overcome and rid the region of the menace.

"Najib's committment together with that of the Australia's prime minister's
is very high in this issue," he said at a joint news conference with Lewis
following the Malaysia-Australia Working Group Meeting on The Issue of
Smuggling and Trafficking of Humans here today.

Hishammuddin said the meeting Wednesday also discussed in detail the trends
in human smuggling, the main challenges and also studied approaches to detect
human smuggling activities.

Besides that, there were also discussions on legal actions that involved
prosecution and extradition.

"All efforts are towards continuity of the countries's enforcement agencies
to deal with the problem," he said.

Hishammuddin said to ensure what had been achieved in the two-day meeting
would be successfully implemented, a memorandum of understanding may be signed
between the two countries in February.

He said the MoU would among other things lay guidelines on the sharing of
information and intelligence not only on human trafficking and smuggling but
also on terrorism that can affect the stability and peace of the region, and on
the smuggling of drugs, especially of synthetic drugs.

On another development, Hishammuddin said the Cabinet today agreed that
Kuala Lumpur would host the 'Pacific Rim Intelligence Conference' in October.

The conference would be attended by countries of the Pacific region to share
ideas and experiences to fight international crime including human trafficking.

Meanwhile, Lewis said the time had come for both countries to have closer
cooperation on the matter.

"I agree that now is the right time for us to be together and share views on
the issue. It's not just about two countries but it is a global problem.

"We realise the problem of human smuggling can only be addressed by
governments, the security agencies cannot be working alone. What we have
discussed provides a better understanding for both sides on the challenges that
we face," he said.
--BERNAMA