Asia pledges crackdown on people smuggling networks

Hundreds of asylum seekers at a time are risking the journey south on unseaworthy boats

NUSA DUA, Indonesia (CNN) -- Asian nations have agreed to work towards outlawing the world's fastest growing criminal trade at a landmark people smuggling conference in Indonesia.

Co-hosts of the world's largest meet on the topic, Australia and Indonesia, said in a statement Thursday that 36 ministers from around Asia had made a non-binding agreement to share intelligence between agencies and work together on border control.

Australia took the charge at the conference, announcing it will appoint a roving ambassador to help crush the trade -- now the number two priority behind narcotics for Interpol, officials say.

Canberra's move came at the end of the two-day, closed-door meeting on the Indonesian resort island of Bali, which also included delegates from European nations and global groups.

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The passage of thousands of asylum seekers from the Middle East and Central Asia, through transit points in Malaysia and Indonesia, and on to Australia has frayed relations among regional neighbors.

Following the Tampa freighter standoff in August last year, Australia has taken a tough stance against boat people, turning away ships it suspects of carrying illegal migrants.

Indonesia has refused to take them back, leaving them in limbo.

As a temporary solution, Australia has brokered deals with Pacific Island nations, such as Nauru, to process the illegal migrants.

Floating deathtraps

However, the sinking of a fishing boat off the coast of Java on October 19, which led to the deaths of 354 mostly Iraqi asylum seekers, was the last straw in the escalating crisis.

It prompted Jakarta to co-host the regional meet with Australia in a bid to work out a wider crackdown on the trade.

As many as two million women and children are trafficked around the world each year, in a business worth $10 billion, the International Organization for Migration (IOM) estimates.

Smuggling within Asia makes up much of that, with U.S. State Department figures showing 225,000 victims a year emanate from Southeast Asia and over 150,000 from South Asia.

Center stage

Australia has taken a tough line on asylum seekers, holding those that make it to its shores in remote detention centers

While other Asian countries have their own battles -- Chinese economic migrants fall into the hands of ruthless gangs known as "snakeheads" operating from the Fujian province, while the Mekong Delta is also notorious for its trafficking of women and children feeding the sex trade -- the pipeline from the Indonesian archipelago to Australia's northern coast took center stage at the talks.

Australia has been beset by internal political wrangling over what action to take to stem the tide of illegal migrants.

Although the 5,000 people who reached its shores last year are a mere trickle compared to the millions of refugees in Pakistan, the Australian prime minister won a groundswell of support in the polls for his hard-line policy.

As part of the battle to end the influx of smuggled persons, which Australia fears will only multiply if stern action is not taken, Canberra has put pressure on Asian neighbors like Indonesia.

Indonesia, with its porous borders and reputation for corrupt officials, has become a hub for the business of smuggling. It currently does not have a law to punish traffickers.

'Half the world ready'

While Thursday's non-binding agreement between the ministers signaled a growing multilateralism among Asian nations, it did not come up with any treaties or new law.

Instead, two working groups will be set up to follow through on the talks, Australian Foreign Minister Alexander Downer told reporters, and they would report to a ministerial meeting next year.

Australia's ambassador in Manila, John Buckley, will become the ambassador for people smuggling working both to intensify action against the trade, and help in returning asylum seekers to their home countries.

The IOM and UNHCR will be key in pushing it forward, and the IOM's director general, Brunson McKinley, cheered Thursday's moves.

"Half the world is ready to come to terms with it," he said.