VOI - Voice of Indonesia | RRI - Radio Republik Indonesia

Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi held bilateral talks with her Chinese counterpart Wang Yi in Bangkok on Tuesday to discuss joint efforts to solve the issue of human trafficking under the pretext of mail-order brides.

At the meeting held on the sidelines of a ministerial meeting of ASEAN member states and their dialog partners, Retno underscored the need to solve the issue immediately to prevent new victims.

Retno said she had summoned the Chinese ambassador in Jakarta to lodge a complaint about the issue. In addition, the Indonesian ambassador in Beijing had also met the director general of consular affairs of the Chinese Foreign Ministry to convey a similar complaint.

Retno told Wang Yi that she had recently met eight people who fell victim to human trafficking in Pontianak, capital of  West Kalimantan Province.

"The victims admitted that they were recruited by agents that provided them with fake information. Some of them experienced domestic and sexual violence and were not give enough food," the Foreign Ministry quoted Retno as telling Wang Yi in a written statement released on Wednesday.

To solve the issue, Retno proposed the repatriation of 18 victims who are currently at the Indonesian Embassy in Beijing.

She also called more detailed surveillance of the process to legalize mixed marriage documents at the Chinese Embassy and in China. In the meantime, the Indonesian authorities should also do the same.

Lastly, she hoped the two nations to work closely to combat human trafficking crimes.

At the meeting with Wang Yi, Retno also revealed the arrest of several suspects in Indonesia and called cooperation with China to arrest agents in the country involved in the case.

The other issues discussed at the bilateral talks were Indo-Pacific cooperation and situation in the South China Sea.

Retno said ASEAN Outlook on Indo-Paciific concept is the regional grouping's outlook to create permanent peace and prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region.

The outlook put emphasis on creating ASEAN centrality, mainstreaming dialogs and cooperation, and intensifying cooperation through ASEAN-led mechanism.

On the South China Sea, Indonesia once again reminded all sides of their obligations to maintain the South China Sea as a peaceful and stable region.

To that end, all countries should have mutual trust with regard to the South China Sea. The mutual trust could be created if all sides comply with the international law including the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS) 1982. (ANTARA)