The Thai delegation headed by Mr. Norachit Sinhaseni, Deputy Permanent Secretary of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs will attend the Bali Process Senior Officials’ Meeting during 24-25 February 2009 in Brisbane, Australia. The delegation is composed with Dr. Chatchom Akapin, Senior Expert State Attorney, Office of the Attorney General of Thailand, in his capacity as a Bali Process Coordinator for expert group on policy issues, legislative frameworks and law enforcement issues as well as representatives from the National Security Council, the Immigration Office and Foreign Ministry officials. On this occasion, Thailand is to raise the issue of regional cooperation on the problem of illegal migration by sea for the meeting’s discussion. This is the result of the official visit of Mr. Kasit Piromya, Foreign Minister, to Indonesia on 11 February 2009, during which he discussed and agreed with his Indonesian counterpart that Bali Process may be one of the appropriate regional forums to discuss the issue of Rohingya illegal migrants in the Andaman sea. Later, Foreign Minister Kasit sent a letter to Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda and Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith, co-chairs of the Bali Process Meeting, to express Thailand’s wish that this issue be included in the agenda of the Bali Process Senior Officials’ Meeting (SOM) and Ministerial Meeting.
The “Bali Process” or, the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime, was launched in 2002 with a key objective to set a regional cooperation framework to prevent and resolve the problem of people smuggling, human trafficking and related transnational crimes. The Process is composed of 40 member countries from Asia-Pacific region (including Myanmar, Indonesia, Bangladesh, India, Malaysia—all of which are affected by the Rohingya issue) and 18 observer countries, with participation of international organizations, including the UNHCR and IOM.
The Bali Process Ministerial Meeting has already been held twice in 2002 and 2003 respectively, and the latest Senior Officials’ Meeting was held in 2004. Thailand has played a key role in Bali Process since the beginning, having been assigned as a Bali Process coordinator for expert group on policy issues, legislative frameworks and law enforcement issues. Thailand is committed to continue such active and constructive role in the Process. At this meeting, Senior Expert State Attorney Dr. Chatchom is prepared to present Thailand’s legal development in related human trafficking law. The new law, which places strong emphasis on assistance to human trafficking victims, indicates Thailand’s progressive step to address the human trafficking issue on its part, while it stands ready to cooperate with other countries as well.
For further information, please contact the Press Division, Department of Information, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Tel.02-6435170, Fax.02-6435169, E-mail: div0704@mfa.go.th