REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Foreign ministers of Indonesia and Sri Lanka, Marty Natalegawa and Sri Lanka Gamini Lakshman held a meeting in Jakarta on Tuesday. Indonesia and Sri Lanka committed to address cases of people smuggling to Australia.
"Indonesia and Sri Lanka have similar problem. Through the Bali Process - an initiative for dealing with people smuggling and human trafficking - we will handle the flow of smuggled people to ensure common good," Natalegawa said on Tuesday.
The Bali Process was organized by Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR).
It is participated by countries, which are most affected by the irregular movement of people in Asia Pacific, such as Indonesia, Australia, Bangladesh, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, New Zealand, Papua New Guinea, Philippines, Thailand, as well as countries further afield, such as Afghanistan, Iran, Pakistan and Sri Lanka.
According to Natalegawa, a number of countries, such as Sri Lanka and Bangladesh are working to prevent people smuggling to Australia. Indonesia and Sri Lanka need to sign the cooperation and agreement.
In this meeting, Natalegawa and Lakshman also discussed various cooperation of trade, economy, agriculture, fisheries and tourism between the two countries.
"We discuss in detail related forward steps to improve economic relations between Indonesia and Sri Lanka. We agreed to increase the efforts," Natalegawa added.
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