IOM Director General William Lacy Swing will take part in the 4th
Bali Process Regional Ministerial Conference, which will open in
Bali, Indonesia on 30 March 2011.

The meeting will provide an opportunity for participants from
more than 50 countries from the Asia Pacific region and beyond to
review progress since the 3rd Ministerial Conference, take stock of
the current situation regarding people smuggling and trafficking in
persons and chart future directions for the Bali Process.

"Because of the sheer breadth and diversity of its membership
stretching from the Pacific to the Middle East, the Bali Process
remains one of the most dynamic and diverse Regional Consultative
Processes that IOM supports," says IOM Director General William
Lacy Swing. "The Bali process remains a high priority for IOM. We
remain committed to helping its membership define and implement
forward-looking strategies that will effectively address a wide
range of migration challenges."

Participants will discuss practical measures to combat people
smuggling, trafficking in persons and related transnational crimes
in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond. They will also discuss the
setting up of an inclusive and non binding regional cooperation
framework to respond to complex population and refugee movements in
the region.

"IOM welcomes discussions on establishing such a framework and
stands ready to work with participating states to make it
operational," says William Lacy Swing.

Initiated at the "Regional Ministerial Conference on People
Smuggling, Trafficking in Persons and Related Transnational Crime"
held in Bali in February 2002, the Bali Process follow-up involves
more than 50 countries and numerous international agencies.

The Bali Process is co-chaired by the Governments of Indonesia
and Australia. The monitoring and implementation of related
activities and initiatives are guided by a steering group composed
of the governments of Australia, Indonesia, New Zealand, Thailand,
IOM and the UN High Commissioner for Refugees.

For more information please contact:

Chris Lom

IOM Bangkok

Tel: +66 8 1927 5215

E-mail: "mailto:clom@iom.int%20">clom@iom.int