ASEAN launches handbook on fighting human trafficking

Senior officials of ASEAN member countries launched a comprehensive handbook to help fight human trafficking in the Asian region. The ASEAN Handbook on International Legal Cooperation in Trafficking in Persons Cases, which was launched on Wednesday during the week-long 10th ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime (SOMTC) in Makati City. Interior and Local Government Undersecretary and SOMTC chairperson Rico Puno said the handbook will help fight human trafficking not only in Southeast Asia but throughout the world. “I am confident that the publication of this Handbook will further promote the harmonization of relevant national policies and programs on trafficking in persons among ASEAN countries, and strengthen institutional linkages among the various ASEAN mechanisms involved in combating TIP," Puno said during the book launching. “The launching of this Handbook is remarkably meaningful for the Philippines which has been chosen as the Lead Shepherd for Trafficking in Persons in the Southeast Asia region," he added. The book was developed with the help of the Australian Agency for International Development (AusAID) through the Asia Regional Trafficking in Persons Project (ARTIP), and the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Meanwhile, Australian Ambassador Rod Smith noted that this is the first time that ASEAN member-states have developed a practical guide that “will undoubtedly improve how people trafficking cases are investigated and prosecuted in the region." ASEAN Secretariat Deputy Secretary General for Community and Corporate Affairs Bagas Hapsoro acknowledged the scale of the challenges currently facing national criminal justice agencies in dealing with this complex crime. “This handbook seeks to change this situation by promoting the type of cooperation that will ensure that there are no safe havens for traffickers or their assets," Hapsoro said. The Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is a geo-political and economic organization of 10 countries in Southeast Asia. It was founded on August 8, 1967 by Indonesia, Malaysia, the Philippines, Singapore and Thailand. Since then, membership has expanded to include Brunei, Burma (Myanmar), Cambodia, Laos, and Vietnam. ASEAN aims to promote economic growth, social progress, peace and stability, and cultural development among its members. ASEAN also aims to provide opportunities for member countries to discuss differences peacefully. –VVP, GMANews.TV