Australia, malaysia to cooperate in pacrim

[ggk]

PUTRAJAYA, Aug 27 (Bernama) -- Australia has agreed to cooperate with Malaysia in the Pacific Rim Intelligence Conference (PACRIM) which will be held in October.

According to a statement from the home ministry here today, the agreement was announced in a Working Group meeting on human trafficking and smuggling, which was held in Kuala Lumpur for two days, starting yesterday.

"Australia's agreement and commitment to work with Malaysia will make an impact and act as a strategic partner in carrying out the conference.
"It is expected to further strengthen security at the borders, as well as fight cross-border crime between both countries," the statement said.

PACRIM is a yearly conference which sees the participation of border protection agencies from 12 member countries like the United States, Canada, People's Republic of China, Hong Kong, Japan, South Korea, Macau, Mexico, New Zealand, Singapore, Malaysia and Australia.

-- BERNAMA
NJ IZ GR

[goat89]

Hmmm... nvr knew the Diggers were not in PACRIM.

[ggk]

they are in the PACRIM... but this time both country will have a more closer coorporation, to combat human traffiking.

[ggk]

ARRESTS COME AS MALAYSIA, AUSTRALIA DISCUSS CURBING HUMAN TRAFFICKING

Bernama - Friday, August 28
KUALA LUMPUR, Aug 27 (Bernama) -- Even as Malaysia and Australia were working out better cooperation to check the smuggling and trafficking of persons, Malaysian authorities arrested five Afghan men who attempted to use Malaysia as the transit point to sneak into another country.

They were held at a budget hotel in Johor Baharu in a raid at 12.15am today, said Inspector-General of Police Tan Sri Musa Hassan.

The five men, who had been staying at the hotel since Aug 16, were picked up after they failed to produce identification documents, he said, adding that police believed they were trying to enter another country illegally.

Musa spoke to reporters at the conclusion of the two-day Malaysia-Australia Working Group Meeting on the Issue of Smuggling and Trafficking of Humans, here.

He said Malaysia and Australia were prepared to establish an improved bilateral cooperation network as the key measure in curbing the smuggling and trafficking of persons.

He said both countries gave high priority to the efforts and discussed and exchanged ideas on how to forge closer cooperation in terms of intelligence and joint investigations.

They also discussed the possibility of setting up a data base with direct links to Interpol and Aseanapol, he added.

Musa said the meeting also discussed proactive measures to tighten entry points and undertake close monitoring of people who might want to use Malaysia as a transit point.

He also said that a working group would be set up by both sides especially to tackle such crime.

-- BERNAMA