The Minister for Immigration and Border Protection Peter Dutton will travel to Indonesia today to lead Australia’s delegation at the Sixth Ministerial Conference of the Bali Process.
The Ministerial Conference will be co-chaired by the Minister for Foreign Affairs Julie Bishop and her Indonesian counterpart, Her Excellency Retno LP Marsudi.
The Bali Process is our region’s pre-eminent forum for engagement on irregular migration, people smuggling and trafficking, with 48 members including the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR), the International Organization for Migration (IOM) and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC).
The Ministerial Conference will provide the impetus for significant developments on addressing global and regional irregular migration challenges. Bali Process members will seek to adopt a Ministerial Declaration on Irregular Migration and discuss the establishment of an emergency response mechanism to allow the Bali Process to respond to urgent crises in the region.
By establishing an ambitious forward agenda for regional cooperation, the Ministerial Conference will complement Australia’s national efforts to combat the challenges of irregular migration, people smuggling and human trafficking.
Australia strongly appreciates the partnerships we have with many countries in the region, including with Indonesia and looks forward to further enhancing regional cooperation through this conference.