SBY Receives Australian Foreign Minister

President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono at his office on Tuesday received Australian Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd to discuss issues related to human trafficking.

Human trafficking will be among a number of topics to be discussed at "The Fourth Bali Regional Ministerial Conference/BRMC-4" in the island resort of Bali on Wednesday, March 30, 2011.

At the meeting with Rudd, President Yudhoyono was accompanied by Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa, Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro, Minister/State Secretary Sudi Silalahi, and Cabinet Secretary Dipo Alam.

To the Australian foreign minister, President Yudhoyono said human trafficking was a common issue and common challenge among Indonesia, Australia, and other countries in the region, and thus a comprehensive cooperation was needed to overcome it completely.

President Yudhoyono expressed optimism that at the ministerial conference in Bali, popularly known and "Bali Process", the best possible solution to human trafficking case could be reached.

"I hope the Bali Process will run successfully with many things to be discussed," said the president to Rudd.

Meanwhile, Rudd expressed his gratitude for Indonesia’s readiness to cooperate with Australia in finding the solution to the case of people smuggling. The Australian foreign minister explained that with his Indonesian counterpart Marty Natalegawa and ministers from friendly countries, they would discuss the issue completely.

Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa and his Australian counterpart, Kevin Rudd, are scheduled to open The Fourth Bali Regional Ministerial Conference. A Foreign Affairs Ministry’s press release here on Tuesday said the conference will be on people smuggling, human trafficking, and related transnational crime.

The conference will be preceded by Senior Officials Meeting on Tuesday with the participants from around 41 countries, among others Australia, New Zealand, Timor Leste, Thailand, Malaysia, Singapore, and Sri Lanka.

In addition, representatives from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the International Organization for Migration (IOM) will also be present as observers at the conference.

At the conference, the ministers will discuss strategies for reinvigorating cooperation on trafficking in persons, and will renew their commitment to effective cooperation on border control and law enforcement initiatives to combat people smuggling. The meeting engages more than 40 governments on the complex and difficult issues of people smuggling and people trafficking.

This meeting will be the first Bali Process Ministerial Conference to consider the proposal for a regional cooperation framework to address the irregular movement of people and to combat people smuggling.

The Bali Process is regarded to have given a positive contribution, especially in the improvement of capacity and network among the stake holders in the region in the cooperation to prevent people smuggling, trafficking in persons and related transnational crime.