JakartaPost-Feb 13
Indonesia and Australia have concluded a series of meetings for the regional antitrafficking forum Bali Process, setting the focus on online scams and irregular migrations that have contributed to trafficking incidents in recent years. This year’s iteration of the Bali Process was convened in two forums, the third government and business forum and the eighth ministerial conference, in Adelaide, Australia on Friday. It was the first ministerial meeting to be held outside Indonesia since the establishment of the Bali Process in 2002, which facilitates discussion and information sharing about refugees and human trafficking, with a membership of 45 states and four international organizations and cochaired by Indonesia and Australia. Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi told the government and business forum that the private sector must play a role in fighting human trafficking and forced labor in their businesses and supply chain. She cited estimates from the International Labor Organization (ILO) that about 27.6 million people became victims of forced labor each day, with the majority of cases starting from bad recruitment processes that even included trafficking. As many as 1,185 Indonesians fell victim to online job scams in neighboring countries that led to human trafficking throughout 2022, according to data from the Foreign Ministry’s overseas citizen protection directorate. Of the number, 864 people were victims of incidents in Cambodia, 107 in the Philippines, 102 in Laos, 81 in Myanmar and 31 in Thailand. Read more at:
