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Mekong countries strengthen cooperation to combat trafficking

Xinhua, November 23, 2016 Adjust font size:

Senior official from countries of the Greater Mekong Sub-region (GMS), donors and international organizations gathered in Laos capital Vientiane on Wednesday to discuss ways to strengthen cooperation to combat human trafficking.

During the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking (COMMIT), Phengsavanh Thipphavognxay, head of Lao National Steering Committee on Anti-Human Trafficking, said that following the adoption of the fourth regional program in 2014, member countries have been focusing on implementing the program actively based on the capacity and real situation of each country, and making use of cooperation from international organizations and civil society.

Participants will talk about the sustainability of COMMIT and work to identify victims and referral mechanisms as well as the involvement of young people, social organizations and finally discuss priorities of the plan for 2017 at the two-day event.

They will also receive updates on the progress of implementation activities of the Sub-regional Plan of Action Phase 4 (SPA4), Phengsavanh was quoted by Lao state-run news agency KPL.

Some experts and researchers said they were concerned that human trafficking would get worse when the ASEAN Economic Community is fully integrated, referring to the regional bloc's aspirations to create a single market with a free flow of goods, services, investment, capital and skilled labor by 2020.

Between 2006 and 2015, thousands of victims of trafficking were officially repatriated from neighboring countries. They were mostly women, and girls and boys under the age of 18, reported local Vientiane Times.

The regional COMMIT meeting is a follow-up meeting to the last one held in February 2016 in Bangkok, Thailand, to review and develop a future action plan to implement SPA4. Endit