Thailand to host meet on illegal migration

The Thai government will hold a special meeting on illegal migration in the Indian Ocean region here later this month, the ministry of foreign affairs said on Tuesday.

The meeting, slated for May 29, will be "an urgent call for the region to comprehensively work together to address the unprecedented increase of irregular migration across the Bay of Bengal in recent years," the ministry said in a press release.

Senior officials from 15 affected countries, including Australia, Indonesia, Malaysia, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Vietnam, Bangladesh as well as observer country the United States, are expected to attend the one-day event, Xinhua news agency reported.

The increasing complexity of illegal migration demanded a multi-faceted approach, the ministry said, stressing that countries of origin, transit, and destination must work together to solve the problem comprehensively by addressing the root causes as well as all the contributing factors along the way.

The meeting will provide a forum for exchanges of information and intelligence on the current situation on irregular migration by sea and its challenges, as well as to demonstrate a strong commitment to strengthen cooperation and foster more concrete actions.

Such actions may include "cooperation on information and intelligence sharing as well as coordination in law enforcement to dismantle transitional criminal networks, and collective information campaign at countries of origin, transit, and destination to promote awareness and prevent exploitation", the ministry said.