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ndonesia and Australia are seeking approval from member states of the Bali Process to establish and colead a consultative mechanism to swiftly address a potential refugee influx into the region, as an attempt to make the forum relevant amid rising global concerns over irregular migration.

The two countries are cochairing the sixth Bali Process Ministerial Conference '€” which was established in 2002 to address irregular migration, human trafficking and related transnational crime.

Since its inception in 2002, the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime has raised regional awareness of issues and developed and implemented strategies and practical cooperation in response. However, no concrete measures have been taken to respond to the problems.

Last year, the region faced a complicated situation when hundreds of Rohingya and Bangladeshis were killed crossing the Bay of Bengal in a surge of human smuggling and trafficking across Southeast Asia. Some 370 people were believed to have died in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea during the year.

Among the expected outcomes of the two-day forum is the creation of a consultative mechanism as an emergency response to a potential refugee crisis, the Foreign Ministry'€™s director general for multilateral affairs, Hasan Kleib, said.

Indonesia proposed a mechanism that would authorize Indonesia and Australia to call affected countries to hold consultative dialogues when needed.

The proposal discussed during the senior officials meeting (SOM) is to be submitted to the ministers on Wednesday.

Hasan said the consultation mechanism was expected not to only provide appropriate and fast responses to emergency situations related to refugees, but also to make the Bali Process more relevant to solving the issue of irregular migration.

'€œIn May last year we had emergency meetings with Malaysia and Thailand regarding the refugee crisis in the Andaman Sea. Questions were raised about where the Bali Process'€™ mechanism was in handling the issue and that is why such consultative dialogues are imminent,'€ he said, referring to the influx of Rohingya refugees last year.

Who would host the consultative meetings has been under discussion '€” whether Indonesia, Australia or the affected countries.

Hasan underlined the need for concrete action to be taken once the problems arise. The foundation for the consultative mechanism will be laid in the last point of a 14-paragraph declaration, which will be adopted in the ministerial meeting.

It will be the first time for the Bali Process to yield a declaration, with officials from the Foreign Ministry saying the sudden Rohingya refugee influx last year prompted the forum to undertake more concrete actions.

A UN High Commission on Refugees (UNHCR) report estimated that 33,600 refugees and migrants of various nationalities took to smugglers'€™ boats in Southeast Asia and the bulk of them were Rohingya and Bangladesh nationals in the Bay of Bengal and the Andaman Sea.

Andrew Goledzinowski, Australian ambassador for people smuggling issues, said that the Bali Process had to become more flexible and more agile in responding to the challenges of the region.

'€œSince the last SOM meeting of the Bali Process, the world has changed and so many more things have happened. Since the last we met in this forum, illegal migration has become possibly the most critical global issue in the world,'€ Goledzinowski '€” who cochaired Tuesday'€™s meeting with Hasan '€” said in his opening remarks.

'€œIt is very important for the Bali Process ['€¦] for us not just continuing what we have been doing but we must work harder. In that context, this meeting is more ambitious than before.'€

The UNHCR'€™s assistant high commissioner for protection, Volker Türk, who represents the organization in the meeting, called for nations in the region to sign the convention and to give refugees access to better livelihoods, even in the transit countries.

'€œWe hope that in light of the big crises when it comes to refugees, there are opportunities now to revisit some of the old policies that basically use resettlement as the only solution. We can find other ways of arranging local stays '€” even if it is on a temporary basis '€” so they can also access the labor market,'€ he said.
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