Ministers from the six nations in the Greater Mekong Subregion (GMS) have inked a joint declaration on fighting human trafficking.

The joint declaration was signed in Beijing on December 14 at the second inter-ministerial meeting of the Coordinated Mekong Ministerial Initiative against Trafficking (COMMIT), which groups China, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand and Viet Nam.

According to the joint declaration, the six nations will join together in the firm intention to continue bilateral and multilateral consultations and collaborations between and among countries in the subregion as well as with regional bodies such as the ASEAN.

The six nations are committed to preventing trafficking in persons and associated harms through actions aimed at identifying and protecting trafficked persons at every point in the trafficking cycle, and to ensure that all official actions with respect to trafficked persons protect their safety, dignity and rights.

The two-day meeting, sponsored by the Chinese Ministry of Public Security (MPS), also passed the second-phase action plan, scheduled for 2008 to 2010.

At the first COMMIT inter-ministerial meeting held in Yangon, Myanmar, in 2004, the six nations signed a memorandum of understanding on the cooperation against trafficking in persons in GMS.

Source: VNA