Rocky start to smuggling meet

NUSA DUA, Indonesia -- Indonesia's president has opened the world's biggest people-smuggling meet with a veiled attack on countries she accuses of acting in their own interests.

Speaking to delegates from 53 nations in Bali, Indonesian to find ways of cracking down on this deadly and lucrative trade, Megawati Sukarnoputri, referred to "impatient governments taking unilateral steps to protect their national interests."

The vast archipelago of Indonesia has become a stepping stone for thousands of asylum seekers making their way from the Middle East and Central Asia to Australia on a well-established route used by people smugglers.

Since the MV Tampa freighter standoff in August last year, Canberra has turned away all boats it suspects of carrying illegal human cargo, sparking tension with some of its neighbors, particularly Indonesia, who refuses to take them back.

This has left boat people, which Australia says are all smuggled, in limbo. Australia has come up with what is called the "Pacific Solution," brokering deals with Pacific Island nations such as Nauru for processing the migrants.

But this has not resolved the problem of where these asylum seekers should eventually go.

Not us, says Australia

Co-host to the smuggling conference, Australia, said on Wednesday that Indonesian officials they spoke to had made it clear Megawati's warning was not targeted at them.

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"We are confident that the comments were not directed to Australia," says Matt Francis, spokesperson for the Australian Foreign Ministry.

Jakarta's ties with Malaysia have also been strained over the return of illegal migrants.

Indonesia has been upset by Malaysian plans to kick out hundreds of thousands of workers from Indonesia following violent incidents there.

Malaysia too is an easy entry point for asylum seekers, as Muslims are allowed to enter the South East nation without a visa.

Growing tide

The two-day, closed-door Bali meet, which is also looking at ways of clamping down on transnational crime and the threat of terrorism, comes amid concern among Asian countries that the tide of asylum seekers is growing exponentially.

The number of mainly Afghan and Middle Eastern boatpeople landing on Australian shores has risen to nearly 5,000 a year from just a few hundred.

They pay thousands of dollars to gangsters and often end up on floating deathtraps. Indonesia does not have a law to punish people smugglers, and has been slammed for having corrupt officials.

Last October, 354 people drowned when an overloaded boat bound for the remote Australian territory of Christmas Island broke up off the Indonesian island of Sumatra.

Indonesia too is struggling with the tide of illegal migrants landing on its islands, estimating that around 4,000 are in the country, many of them smuggled in by syndicates.

"Not only does the presence (of refugees) put some burden on the shoulders of (our) government, currently so occupied in tackling many domestic problems, but it also creates new problems with our local community," Megawati said.

Beset by economic woes, Indonesia has its own migrant problems, and is trying to deal with around 1.3 million displaced persons.

Instead of countries acting on their own, Indonesia's president on Wednesday urged "multilateral or at least regional" steps to battle human trafficking in the Asia-Pacific region.

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

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

Already, the United Nations has identified people smuggling as the "world's fastest growing criminal business," with links to an underworld of sex and drug crimes.