Joint ops against human trafficking

THE Royal Brunei Police Force (RBPF) plans to host a joint cooperative training programme on human trafficking which is to be conducted by the Australian Federal Police.

The programme, pending further arrangements with the Australian police, will be hosted by Brunei for Asean's police chiefs as early as next year, said the Royal Brunei Police Commissioner Pehin Datu Kerma Setia CP Dato Paduka Seri Zainuddin Jalani.

In a press conference held after the closing ceremony of the 28th Aseanapol Conference at the Empire Hotel and Country Club, the commissioner said one of the major outcomes of the conference was the agreement by member countries to engage Australia's cops to undertake a joint training programme on human trafficking.

The decision to further develop policing capabilities on this matter came about as one of the topics high on the agenda during the meeting was the exchange of personnel and training programmes amongst Asean police forces, the commissioner said.

Through the meeting, the commissioner said, police forces from all Asean member countries, including the five dialogue partners, renewed their commitment in strengthening existing cooperation between member countries in various common policing issues.

The commissioner also announced that one of the significant achievements reached in the conference was the agreement to establish the proposed seating of the administration of the permanent Aseanapol Secretariat Office in Malaysia.

"The proposed Aseanapol Secretariat Office will be an important step forward for Aseanapol in ensuring that it remains a cohesive and relevant regional police organisation in Asean," said the commissioner.

The police commissioner also announced that participants also agreed to host the next Aseanapol Conference in Vietnam.

The three-day conference came to a close yesterday as heads of delegations signed and adopted the 28th Aseanapol Conference joint communiqué, which formalises the regional cooperation that has been established and rejuvenated among the member countries.

The closing ceremony for the 28th Aseanapol Conference yesterday also saw the adoption of the joint communiqué and the endorsement of the plan of actions that were agreed upon by heads of the Asean delegations.

The Brunei Times