The 10th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime (AMMTC) 2015 in Kuala Lumpur has agreed to increase the region’s attention to transnational crime.
Malaysian Deputy Prime Minister Ahmad Zahid Hamidi, who concurrently serves as home minister, told a press conference at the 10th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime (AMMTC) that Southeast Asian states had agreed to several measures to boost their fight against transnational crime.
Responding to the growing importance of the issue, AMMTC that is now held biannually will be held on annual basis starting from 2016. In addition, due to the rise of newer types of transnational crime, the scope of the threats being discussed will also be expanded from 8 to 11 areas.
Previously, the discussion of transnational crime only covers eight areas – Drug trafficking, terrorism, economic crimes, human trafficking, money laundering, piracy, weapon smuggling and cybercrime. However, three new areas have been added: illicit trafficking in wildlife, illicit trafficking in timber, and people smuggling.
People smuggling indeed becomes a major concern in the discussion as it might pose serious and various threats for a country.
“This issue continues to be one of the main security threats in the region for quite a period, and it reaches the critical level during the middle of this year as well as impacted a few ASEAN member countries, including Malaysia, following the sudden influx of irregular migrants,” Zahid said.
Furthermore, Malaysia also urges ASEAN member countries to have more serious cooperation bilaterally or trilaterally to fight transnational crime. Malaysia, for instance, has agreed to jointly build a wall with Thailand along their common border and has strengthened counterterrorism cooperation with Indonesia.