Human Trafficking: Mekong countries meet to combat trafficking

Senior officials from the six nations in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) have met in Beijing to coordinate strategy on combating human trafficking.

The two-day meeting, the Fifth Senior Officials Meeting of the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative Against Trafficking (COMMIT), groups ministers from China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam. The first meeting was held in October in Yangon, Myanmar.

The meeting, with the theme of "Strengthen Cooperation and Promote the COMMIT Process", will review the implementation of the memorandum of understanding on strengthening cooperation between GMS countries in cracking down on trans-national human trafficking signed at the first meeting, and the plan of action (2005-2007) on combating trans-national crime.

The meeting will also discuss and pass the second-phase action plan, scheduled for 2008 to 2010, and sign a joint declaration on the process of cracking down on human trafficking in the GMS, which is globally regarded as a hotspot for human trafficking.