Jakarta (ANTARA News) - Indonesia is to host the Fourth Bali Regional Ministerial Conference (BRMC 4) in the island resort of Bali on March 30, 2011.

A press release made available to Antara 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.

Meanwhile, a media release from Australian Embassy in its official website said the country`s ministers for Foreign Affairs Kevin Rudd and for Immigration and Citizenship Chris Bowen will also attend the conference.

Indonesian Foreign Affairs Minister Marty Natalegawa and his Australian counterpart, Kevin Rudd, are scheduled to open the ministerial 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.

Australia looks forward to working with Bali Process members at the Ministerial Conference.

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.

(SYS/O001)

Editor: Suryanto
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