Thailand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs has hailed the recent meeting over irregular migration in the Indian Ocean as a success, despite admitting that more comprehensive measures to address the migration problem would only be produced at a future meeting according to a report by the National News Bureau of Thailand on 4 June.
Norachit Singhaseni, permanent-secretary to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, explained that the May 29 meeting hosted by Thailand in its capacity as a transit country was successful in bringing together relevant countries and international organizations to address the irregular migration issue. The meeting also promoted awareness of the issue and prompted an increase in sea patrols for the assistance of migrants and victims of human trafficking.
Mr. Norachit noted, however, that the aforementioned measures were not comprehensive solutions. More complete solutions are expected to be yielded at a meeting of senior officials and ministers at the end of the year, and at an upcoming ministerial-level meeting of ASEAN member countries on transnational crime. In the meantime, Malaysia has proposed a leaders-level meeting between Thai, Malaysian, Indonesia and Myanmar officials over the irregular migration problem, and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs is awaiting future details on this proposed meeting.