KUALA LUMPUR: Indonesia President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono said on Tuesday that his government and Australia had agreed to work together on cracking down on human trafficking in the region. Yudhoyono told reporters after meeting with Australia Prime Minister Julia Gillard in Darwin that Indonesians were also victims of trafficking and more work was needed to battle against the trade in people. Talks between Yudhoyono and Gillard focused on the issue of boatpeople coming to Australia, mostly via transit ports in Indonesia, after scores of migrants drowned en route to Australia in recent weeks and put the spotlight back on the issue. “In the field of preventing or combating people-smuggling and also human trafficking we have agreed to enhance greater cooperation,” Yudhoyono told reporters. “Indonesia is also a victim of the acts of illegal people smuggling. We hope that we can prevent, as far as possible, the act of people-smuggling in our region,” the president added. The Prime Minister and the President discussed further use of what is called the Bali Process, a group of regional neighbors who together discus co-operation of the massive refugee numbers reaching the area, most on their way to Australia. The Indonesians were interested in economic issues where there was significant movement, including an agreement that Australia was ready to lend $1 billion to ensure Indonesian economic stability.
