China will strengthen cooperation with regional and international
organizations to combat the trafficking and smuggling of human
beings.
Greater efforts will also be made to stem illegal migration, said
Liu Jieyi, deputy director-general of the Department of
International Organizations and Conferences of the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, in his opening address at the Workshop on
Operational Cooperation to Combat Irregular Migration, Trafficking
and Smuggling of Migrants.
Co-organized by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the
International Organization for Migration (IOM), the workshop
attracted more than 90 delegates from 17 countries and regions in
Asia and Oceania.
The major topic of the workshop, which runs until Friday, is
combating illegal migration through international cooperation,
according to Liu.
"Both regional and global irregular migration, trafficking and
smuggling of human beings pose grave threats to social stability
and give rise to a multitude of social problems,'' Liu said.
Numerous complex factors behind the issue include the unreasonable
international political and economic order, socio-economic
development differences between nations, organized transnational
crime and the different migration policies of different countries,
he added.
"The Chinese government has always attached great importance to
measures against irregular migration by enhancing legislation, law
enforcement, administration and other measures to address the
symptoms,'' he said. "Exchanges, consultations and cooperation were
also carried out with other countries and relevant international
organizations on the basis of mutual respect and quality.''
"Over the past several years, migration, particularly irregular
migration, has become one of the major political, economic and
social issues,'' said Yorio Tanimura, IOM Senior Regional Advisor
for Asia and Oceania.
The rampant irregular migration caused by the process of
globalization and technological development can only be managed
through cooperation among governments, he said.
He
estimated the global human trafficking business was worth US$7
billion last year.
Tanimura said China had done "an excellent job'' in combating
illegal migration, such as cracking down on the illegal traffickers
known as "snakeheads.''
China became an observer of IOM last week.
This will allow the organization to more effectively combat people
smuggling in Asia and around the world, said Tanimura.
Founded in 1951, the IOM now has 86 members and 41 observers.
Participants attending the workshop are also parties to the Manila
Process, a framework launched by IOM in 1996 which require members
to exchange information and cooperate in the fight against illegal
migration.
"Through cooperation and joint efforts by the parties to the Manila
Process, new progress and breakthroughs can be made in combating
irregular migration, trafficking and smuggling migrants,'' Liu
said.
(China Daily 06/12/2001)