Justice Minister attends Sixth Ministerial Conference of Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficki

Justice Minister Dr. Wijayadasa Rajapakshe with rest of the participants at the Sixth Ministerial Conference of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime in Indonesia recently. 

The Sixth Ministerial Conference of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime, preceded by the Senior Officials’ Meeting, was successfully concluded in Bali, Indonesia on 22nd and 23rd of March 2016.

The Ministerial Conference was declared open by the Minister for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia and the Minister for Foreign Affairs of Australia, in their capacities as the Co-Chairs of the Bali Process. Forty eight members of the Bali Process were participated, along with 18 other participating countries, and 10 participating agencies.Minister of Justice Wijeyadasa Rajapaksheheaded the Sri Lanka delegation to the Conference.

The Sixth Ministerial Bali Process Ministerial Conference discussed the trends of irregular migration in the region and the related transnational crimes. The Ministerial Conference adopted the first-ever declaration of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime-Bali Declaration On People Smuggling, Trafficking In Persons And Related Transnational Crime.

The Bali Process is a regional forum to strengthen cooperation, facilitate discussion and information sharing on issues relating to human trafficking, people smuggling and related transnational crimes which was established in 2002. It is one of the biggest and oldest regional consultative processes on irregular migration that brings together countries of origin, transit and destination. The Bali Process Ministerial Conference is the highest decision making mechanism of the Bali Process.