Indonesia, Australia to fight human trafficking

Indonesian Defense Minister Purnomo Yusgiantoro said the Indonesian and Australian governments will strengthen military cooperation in humanitarian fields, media reports said here on Friday. Minister Purnomo said that both countries even had concern for humanitarian cooperation such as in emergency cases that occur in the waters bordering the two countries. Activities could be in the form of emergency treatment in case of a ship accident, he said. Cooperation will also be done in dealing with cases of illegal immigrants, said Purnomo. "If these immigrants are stranded in the Australian waters but the signal is received by Indonesia, then Indonesia would handle it," he was quoted by Antara news agency as saying. The efforts would be taken by both countries through joint patrols that have been carried out in the Timor Sea. Secretary General of the Ministry of Defense, Vice Marshal Eris Herryanto, said that in such cooperation efforts, Indonesia would deploy the National Search And Rescue Agency team. "The cooperation will be further carried out at the meeting scheduled in September 2012. The meeting will also discuss details of cooperation, including the placement of the troubled ship." he said. Indonesian and Australia had signed a bilateral agreement of the Lombok Treaty agreement on jointly fighting illegal human trafficking.