Indonesia's initiative…will be discussed and described within the ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration on Combating TIP Caused by Abuse of Technology.
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Indonesia will seek the strengthening of efforts for mitigating human trafficking at the plenary meeting of the 42nd Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Summit, which will be led by President Joko Widodo next week.

In a statement issued on Monday, Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesperson Teuku Faizasyah said that human trafficking will be one of the key topics of discussion during the summit because of the attention paid by ASEAN leaders to the issue.

In view of the high number of cases involving human trafficking in Southeast Asia through online scams, Indonesia will propose the strengthening of collective efforts for eradicating trafficking.

"Indonesia's initiative, as a form of regional effort for handling human trafficking, will be discussed and described within the ASEAN Leaders’ Declaration on Combating TIP Caused by Abuse of Technology," Faizasyah informed.

The complexity of human trafficking necessitates collective regional handling, starting from detection, prevention, protection, repatriation, and rehabilitation, to tackling the root of the problem.

Thus, the capacity of ASEAN member countries' law enforcers should be strengthened for carrying out investigation, evidence gathering, victim identification, and prosecution, Faizasyah said.

Cooperation should also be bolstered to prevent human trafficking as well as to rehabilitate and reintegrate victims.

The 42nd ASEAN Summit in Labuan Bajo, East Nusa Tenggara, from May 9–11, 2023, will discuss issues related to ASEAN institution strengthening and the post-2025 ASEAN vision.

Other issues that will be taken up at the summit comprise the post-pandemic economic recovery, strengthening of the regional health architecture, and other important issues inside and outside of the region.

The 42nd ASEAN Summit is expected to produce a number of documents. These include the ASEAN Leaders’ Statement on ASEAN institution strengthening, post-2025 ASEAN Vision, and documents on human trafficking handling, protection of migrant workers and their families during crisis, and the development of the health sector, the electric vehicle ecosystem, and ASEAN village networks.

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Translator: Yashinta Difa P, Fadhli Ruhman
Editor: Sri Haryati
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