BALI PROCESS DECLARATION ON PEOPLE SMUGGLING, TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS AND RELATED TRANSNATIONAL CRIME-2018

The Seventh Ministerial Conference of the Bali Process, held on 7 August 2018, emphasizes collective action to combat irregular migration, people smuggling, and human trafficking. It reaffirms commitments from the 2016 Bali Declaration, highlighting progress through regional dialogue, capacity building, and operational collaboration. The conference acknowledges the role of the Business Forum in addressing trafficking and labor exploitation, advocating for ethical recruitment. Additionally, it stresses collaboration with civil society to support victims and enhance policy dialogue. The ministers express concerns about displacement and commit to protecting vulnerable populations while promoting sustainable returns and cooperation with other international frameworks for migration management.

advtanmoy 16/05/2020 4 minutes read

DECLARATION OF THE SEVENTH MINISTERIAL CONFERENCE OF THE BALI PROCESS ON PEOPLE SMUGGLING, TRAFFICKING IN PERSONS AND RELATED TRANSNATIONAL CRIME

BALI PROCESS

Bali, 7 August 2018

We, Ministers and representatives of members of the Bali Process, recognise that the challenges that arise from complex irregular migration can be addressed by working together. We commend the role of the Bali Process in advancing regional dialogue and cooperation to address people smuggling, trafficking in persons and related transnational crime, encouraging member states to learn from each other’s experiences and best practices, and facilitating collaboration to strengthen capacity to address these challenges. We acknowledge that the Bali Process is an inclusive, voluntary and non-binding forum for policy dialogue, information-sharing, and capacity building which takes into account prevailing national laws and circumstances.
We reaffirm the commitments made in the Bali Declaration on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime (2016 Bali Declaration), adopted at the Sixth Ministerial Conference in March 2016.
We welcome the significant progress towards realising the 2016 Bali Declaration. Through its working groups, other engagement mechanisms and Regional Support Office, the Bali Process is promoting information exchange and regional consensus, building capacity, developing policy guides and tools, and facilitating joint action to disrupt criminal networks. The Consultation Mechanism, Good Offices outreach and Task Force on Planning and Preparedness are fostering dialogue and operational-level cooperation on addressing irregular migration crises. The Technical Experts Group on Returns and Reintegration is building consensus on sustainable returns and reintegration. We commit to advancing these initiatives, including operationalising policy guides.

We commend the objective of the Bali Process Government and Business Forum to contribute to the eradication of trafficking in persons, forced labour, modern slavery and the worst forms of child labour. The Forum, the first of its kind in the Bali Process region, complements and supports global efforts to eradicate these transnational crimes. We value the participation of business leaders, and commend their work since the inaugural meeting in August 2017, including to ensure migrant workers in supply chains are provided with appropriate assistance and support throughout the labour migration process, and benefit from ethical recruitment and decent work. We welcome the Forum’s recommendations to strengthen collaboration between government and business. We confirm the Forum as an additional track of the Bali Process.
We support Bali Process efforts to strengthen member state collaboration with civil society to identify, protect and support victims of trafficking in persons and prevent serious forms of exploitation. We will engage with relevant civil society organisations to encourage the broadening of participation in policy dialogue, promote transparency and facilitate exchange and joint learning to increase capacity. We will seek further opportunities to build cooperation with civil society, including on returns and reintegration.
We recognise the benefits of practical cooperation and sharing of information, intelligence and expertise, including best practices. We support increasing links between the Bali Process and other related regional and international consultative processes, including ASEAN. We note the development of the Global Compacts on Refugees and for Safe, Orderly and Regular Migration as frameworks for international cooperation which seek to address displacement and promote well-managed migration.
We are concerned by displacement and the irregular movement of persons, which is a complex challenge, including in the Bali Process region. We commit to preventing displaced persons from becoming victims of people smuggling and trafficking in persons, and support their voluntary, sustainable, and dignified return. We welcome relevant countries’ active engagement with the Bali Process, including in the Consultation Mechanism of October 2017 and Good Offices outreach of May 2018. We support the provision of practical assistance by the Regional Support Office to affected countries and further Bali Process engagement.

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