Palau to explore the implementation of an information sharing web site on people smuggling

Joseph M. Giramur, Immigration Supervisor of Republic of Palau’s Bureau of Immigration said that Australia, Mongolia and Philippines will work together to come up with a website that will focus on information and intelligence sharing to help combat the human smuggling and trafficking.Giramur in an interview yesterday said that Palau was among the participants of the Bali Process Workshop on People Smuggling.This year’s theme was Threat Assessment and Risk Analysis.The workshop was held in Kuala Lumpur from June 2 through June 5 and was attended by 64 delegates from Afghanistan, Australia, Brunei Darussalam, Cambodia, China, Fiji, New Caledonia France, Hongkong, Indonesia, Japan, Laos, Mongolia, Nepal, New Zealand, Pakistan, Philippines, Samoa, Singapore, Solomon Islands, South Korea, Sri Lanka, Thailand, Timor-Leste, Tonga, Vanuatu, Vietnam and Malaysia.Giramur said International Organization for Migration funded his trip and the other delegates from other Asian countries.IOM and the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees also participated in the workshop.This is the third time that Palau participated in the workshop.Malaysia’s Deputy Minister for Home Affairs, Chor Chee Heung opened the workshop. He stressed in his opening speech the importance of having good collaboration among immigration and border protection agencies in combating people smuggling and trafficking in the midst of increasing globalization.Giramur said the workshop adopted several objectives: an improved and consistent understanding of the concept of threat assessment and risk analysis; an appreciation of the advantages of having a structured and consistent approach to threat assessment and risk analysis and be able to use the process to determine, confirm or update previously held and possibly, informally determined threats and risks and a consistent understanding of threats and risks that may enhance the opportunity for member countries to compare threats and risks and cooperate in mitigation of common threats.Giramur said during the workshop, they identified several strategies that could mitigate the risk flowing from threats and challenges and endorsed the implementation of the continuation of the Bali Process Contact Directory and to explore the implementation of an information sharing web site.Giramur said that Palau had three cases of trafficking within the last two years. There were nine victims involved in trafficking last year and most of them were Chinese and Filipino.