Archived Joint Ministerial Statement
Indonesia-Australia Immigration Partnership

His Excellency, Mr Andi Mattalatta, Minister of Law and Human Rights, Republic of Indonesia, and the Hon. Bob Debus, Minister for Home Affairs, Australia, met in Jakarta on 4 June 2009.

Ministers welcomed the strong cooperation between the two countries to combat people smuggling and other forms of irregular migration in the region. To reconfirm and intensify this cooperation, Ministers noted their support for a package of new cooperative measures to combat people smuggling and to address irregular migration issues in the region.

Ministers indicated that cooperation would include enhancing arrangements for the care and support of intercepted irregular migrants in Indonesia, ongoing cooperation in the area of detention management, increased cooperation on mutual legal assistance and increased cooperation for training between respective immigration and law enforcement agencies.

Ministers affirmed that the new measures would further build on current cooperation to identify people smugglers, intercept people smuggling ventures, and prosecute organisers. The measures would also assist in providing support for irregular migrants, including through the vital work of international organisations carried out in consultation with Indonesia and Australia, and to protect irregular migrants from people smuggling ventures.

Ministers welcomed the opportunity to reaffirm their shared leadership of the Bali Process on People Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime and to continue to work together to develop regional responses to irregular migration issues.