TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Transnational crimes in focus at ASEAN Summit
Human trafficking, which has increased over the past years, became a primary security talking point last week.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Coordinating Political, Legal and Security Affairs Minister Mahfud MD (2nd left) arrives at the main venue for the ASEAN Summit in Labuan Bajo on May 9.
(AFP/Bay Ismoyo)
W
ith regional security as among the overarching themes of the 42nd ASEAN Summit, Southeast Asian leaders throughout last week cranked up cooperation to combat transnational crimes, which present a threat to peace, stability and prosperity in the region and could impede the process to build ASEAN’s community.
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.
