Myanmar, crime and job scams discussed at Asean meeting

 

(From left) Zambry Abdul Kadir, Philippines’ secretary of foreign affairs Enrique Manalo, Singapore’s foreign affairs permanent secretary Albert Chua, Thailand’s foreign minister Don Pramudwinai and Vietnam’s foreign minister Bui Thanh Son at the Asean foreign ministers’ meeting in Indonesia. (Bernama pic)

LABUAN BAJO (Indonesia): Myanmar, transnational crime and “job scams” were discussed in detail among Asean foreign ministers at the 42nd Asean Summit 2023.

Foreign minister Zambry Abdul Kadir said discussions began at the foreign ministers’ meeting (AMM) yesterday.

This was followed by the 26th Asean Political-Security Community Council (APSC) meeting and the 33rd Asean Coordination Council (ACC) meeting in West Manggarai city, East Nusa Tenggara province, today.

The Five Point Consensus (5PC), which continues to be the primary strategy for addressing the situation in Myanmar, was discussed by the ministers during their initial meeting.

According to Zambry, Asean nations will continue to take the lead on humanitarian operations in Myanmar through the Asean Humanitarian Aid Coordination Centre for Disaster Management (AHA Centre).

They also concurred that violence must end right now to make this possible.

Zambry said the role of Asean’s special envoy to Myanmar, which is now Indonesia’s turn, also needs to be continued to prevent problems from arising when there is a change in the Asean chairman.

The ministers also took note of the tendency of external partners such as Saudi Arabia, Panama and Spain to establish a Treaty of Friendship and Cooperation in Southeast Asia (TAC).

Malaysia reiterated its support for the Maldives’ application to join the TAC.

Zambry also delivered a report on Malaysia’s position as the coordinating country responsible for organising the Asean-Canada Summit in September and the Asean-GCC in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, in October.

Zambry said Malaysia informed the ministers of efforts to coordinate the fight against fake job offer syndicates.

In particular, he added, Malaysia focused on cross-border crime during the APSC conference, particularly human trafficking, one of the major problems in the Southeast Asian area.

Zambry said Malaysia would continue to work closely with Cambodia and Thailand to share information on identifying syndicates involved in human trafficking and carrying out a comprehensive investigation to prosecute the parties involved.- FMT