The region, which in recent years has seen its security jeopardized by external factors like the geopolitical rivalry between giants the United States and China, has also grappled with internal threats including trafficking in persons, transnational drug transactions, money laundering and terrorism.

Some of these threats, especially human trafficking, have also been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, a period whereby economic uncertainty and increased unemployment became key drivers in pushing increased transnational crimes.

In 2022 alone, the Foreign Ministry recorded over 600 repatriation cases of citizens falling victim to a human trafficking scheme in Cambodia, whereby workers were taken hostage and forced to perform online scams to fulfill a certain quota. This scheme initially promises victims administrative or service jobs with a promise of a USD salary and is becoming widely popular in Southeast Asia.

And despite being primarily an economic association, experts have previously noted the association’s political and security issues were tightly interconnected with its economy, a point that made itself acutely known to the group’s leaders during the Labuan Bajo assembly last week in East Nusa Tenggara.

Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD, who led last week’s ASEAN Political Security Community Council, said a failure to address these problems could render ASEAN irrelevant, and transnational crimes “not only present a threat to peace, stability and prosperity in the region, but also impede our community-building process”.

Two declarations were adopted throughout last week, one to address human trafficking and another to address the safety of migrant workers during emergencies.

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