NUSA DUA (Indonesia), Feb 28: Pakistani, Afghan and Iranian officials at the first international talks on people-smuggling on Thursday called for more legal channels of labour migration, to beat ruthless syndicates blamed for hundreds of drownings.
“This was proposed by a number of other countries as well as Iran,” Afghanistan’s interim justice minister, Karimi Abdul Rahim, said, adding that Kabul wanted regular labour migration channels opened up.
“The enhancement of legal means to travel to various countries would certainly help to combat people-smuggling.” Pakistan endorsed the calls, said Interior Minister Moinuddin Haider. He heads a four-man delegation from Islamabad.
“If there are (developed) countries with zero or negative growth, and they have aging populations, and in Asia there are young populations which can possibly be put to mutual benefit of both (developed and developing) countries, why not? There should be legislation for this,” the minister said.
The presence of major source countries like Afghanistan and Iran has been hailed as a key factor in making the unprecedented people-smuggling talks, attended by ministers from 34 countries, effective. Iraq, the top source country for smuggled people, ignored its invitation.
Afghans and Iraqis make up two-thirds of 3,175 asylum-seekers recorded in Indonesia since late 1999. They were thwarted in their efforts to reach Australia on dilapidated fishing vessels from Indonesia’s porous and largely unpatrolled shores.
Iranians account for 177 of those migrants, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.
Afghans make up some 600 of the 1,189 irregular migrants being handled by the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Indonesia, while 438 are from Iraq, 62 are from Iran and 56 are from Pakistan.
The main destination country for these illegal migrants, conference co-chair Australia, is prioritizing the criminalization of people-smuggling syndicates. But the countries of origin are asking for more legal forms of labour migration.
Underlying their push is the recognition that many of the people smuggled by the syndicates, who charge up to 4,000 dollars per head, are “economic migrants”.
Iranian delegates at pre-conference talks in Jakarta last month led the calls for opening up more legal labour migration channels.
They are echoed at the two-day talks here by the Afghan, Pakistani and several other delegations, and strongly backed up by the IOM.
“We should have a little softer approach for people who go for economic reasons, for economic migrants,” Moinuddin Haider said.
He said wealthy countries should “review their policies” to help developing countries send workers abroad.
“They must help poorer countries to stand on their feet economically, so that people can remain within the boundaries of their countries and go out (to host countries) when required as skilled labour. IOM director-general Brunson McKinley told the conference that labour migration was inextricably linked to people-smuggling.
“The two things have a logical organic connection,” McKinley said on the sidelines.
“One of the good ways to...suppress irregular migration and undercut the business appeal of traffickers is to open legal, regular, orderly channels of labour migration.
“All of the richer countries have declining populations, declining birth rates, aging populations. They need the workers. So there are no logical reasons why well-trained workers from developing countries shouldn’t go there, do the job, earn some money...It’s a tool for development,” he said.
“I’m not saying this is going to get rid of all smuggling or trafficking... but I think it will get rid of a big part of it and everybody will be better off, both in countries of origin and countries of destination,” McKinley said. —AFP
