Ministers from the six nations in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) signed here Friday a joint declaration on fighting human trafficking, reiterating their commitment to strengthening subregional cooperation striking human trafficking crimes.
The joint declaration was signed at the second inter-ministerial meeting of the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking (COMMIT), which groups China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam.
According to the joint declaration, the six nations will join together in the firm intention to continue bilateral and multilateral consultations and collaborations between and among countries in the subregion as well as with regional bodies such as the ASEAN.
The six nations are committed to preventing trafficking in persons and associated harms through actions aimed at identifying and protecting trafficked persons at every point in the trafficking cycle, and to ensure that all official actions with respect to trafficked persons protect their safety, dignity and rights.
The two-day meeting, sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security (MPS), also passed the second-phase action plan, scheduled for 2008 to 2010.
At the first COMMIT inter-ministerial meeting in 2004 in Yangon, Myanmar, the six nations signed a memorandum of understanding on the cooperation against trafficking in persons in GMS, which started the GMS process against human trafficking.
The joint declaration signed at the second meeting is of great significance and will surely promote the GMS process against human trafficking, said Zhang Xinfeng, vice minister of Public Security and head of the Chinese delegation to the COMMIT meeting, at a press conference of the COMMIT meeting.
He said China has taken a series of measures to strengthen its domestic work on cracking down human trafficking crimes and cooperation with the other countries in the subregion in this regard.
According to Zhang, China has set specific liaison offices against trafficking in women and children at its borders with Vietnam and Myanmar, and will establish more offices.
China will strengthen the exchange of information within the GMS on fighting human trafficking and establish a database of the DNA information of trafficked women and children and the criminals and suspects related to human trafficking. China will also strengthen cooperation with the other nations in the GMS on specific cases of transnational human trafficking crimes.
China has sent some 30 government officials to attend the regional training program against human trafficking in Khon Kaen, Thailand, said Zhang.
China will also release its first five-year (2008-2012) action plan for curbing trafficking in humans, particularly women and children, according to which 28 government ministries will join together in efforts to halt human trafficking in China and neighboring countries.
The action plan would include preventive measures, crackdown policies, aid for victims, repatriation and rehabilitation, and international and regional cooperation, according to the MPS.
China had uncovered 2,500 human trafficking-related criminal cases in 2006, said the MPS.
Source: Xinhua
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