REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- Indonesia has encouraged all countries participating in the International Workshop on the Protection of Irregular Movement of Persons at Sea, in Jakarta on April 21-22, to translate recommendations of the Declaration into concrete actions.
Indonesia's Minister of Foreign Affairs Marty Natalegawa stated during his opening remarks in the workshop at the Pancasila Building of Foreign Affairs Ministry, here, on Monday, that the translation of the Jakarta Declaration into concrete actions included the formulation of standard operating procedures in dealing with irregular movements of persons.
"This is the exact purpose of this workshop - to have snapshots, to have a shortcut, of where we are today, in terms of protection of irregular movement of persons, we wish to prevent or we can bring about reduction of such an out flow of people, without having to bear the cost of human lives," Marty explained.
Marty also encouraged the participants of the workshop to identify ways of enhancing the capacity to promote timely search and rescue operations to avoid loss of life at sea, to develop a protection-oriented migration management system, which will support the efforts to reduce or eliminate the possibility of fatalities at sea, and to mobilize resources towards efficient management of irregular migration and victim protection.
"Since the focus of the workshop is on the protection pillar of the Jakarta Declaration, our efforts will be victim-centered; in managing the irregular movement of persons at sea, we must ensure that their humanitarian needs are addressed and their human rights are protected and respected, no matter what their legal statuses are," Marty stressed.
The Jakarta Declaration has been pledged by high-level representatives of the Special Conference on Irregular Movement of Persons on August 20, 2013, which was also initiated by Indonesia.
On the Jakarta Declaration, the representatives agreed to establish mechanism at multilateral, regional and bilateral levels for victims of trafficking from victim identification, protection, rehabilitation, repatriation and reintegration upon return to their respective countries or origin as well as prevention of revictimization.
The International Workshop on the Protection of Irregular Movement of Persons at Sea was participated by 63 delegations from 16 countries, including Indonesia, Australia, Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Philippines, Iran, Cambodia, Malaysia, Myanmar, Pakistan, Papua New Guinea, New Zealand, Sri Langka, and Thailand.
The United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and International Organization for Migration (IOM) and United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) will also attend the workshop.
Some prominent academia of the international law studies, such as Professor Hikmahanto Juwana from Law Faculty of University of Indonesia and an international law practitioner from Queen Mary University of London, Violetta Moreno Lax, will also join in as the speakers in the workshop.
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