Your Excellency, Mr. Hassan Wirayuda, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Indonesia,

Your Excellency, Mr. Stephen Smith, Minister of Foreign Affairs, Australia,

Heads of Delegations, Excellencies, Distinguished Delegates, Ladies and Gentlemen,

By way of Introduction, I would first like to say a few words about the Bali Process and its uniqueness. The Bali Process has always enjoyed a high priority at IOM; for the Bali Process has remained one of the most dynamic and diverse of the fifteen Regional Consultative Processes that IOM supports. Certainly the sheer breadth of its membership of more than 40 countries, stretching from the Pacific to the Middle East, is testimony to the Bali Process' uniqueness as a "process" and to the diversity of membership.

Amidst their diversity, Bali Process countries are commonly linked in the chain of migration patterns and challenges that tie such a vast region together – all with a common purpose to achieve shared goals of mitigating people smuggling, trafficking in persons and related transnational crime.

Such is the nature of migration, of course, that the world is inextricably linked by the threads migration weaves between and among our countries; and, the world continues to benefit greatly because of migrants and their contributions.

However, in the largest movement of people in recorded history, the sheer scale of migration in today's world poses serious challenges to States. Therefore effective management of migration is an essential element both in national governance, but also in building multilateralism toward improving security, strengthening and building economies and facilitating the positive aspects of social and cultural exchange that continues to shape our world.

Though the Bali Process has mainly focused on the law enforcement response to the criminal elements that perpetuate irregular migration and the trade in humans, it has nevertheless highlighted the need for a comprehensive “whole of government” approach to migration management to underpin targeted migration interventions; whether promoting tactical efforts to interdict migrant trafficking and smuggling, targeting child sex tourists, drafting model legislation, putting in place protective frameworks and plans of action for assisting victims of trafficking, or strengthening bilateral partnerships for readmission of migrants.

This comprehensive approach to migration management has been a cornerstone of IOM's technical cooperation and capacity building efforts, through which specialized programmes strengthening border management, addressing trafficking in persons, health and migration, assisted voluntary return, facilitating labour migration are mainstreamed. IOM's programming has been developed in stride with the increased priority that governments have placed on developing a comprehensive and balanced response to managing migration and is evidenced in the fact that since the inception of the Bali Process in 2002, IOM has worked closely with Bali Process governments to develop over 600 projects addressing a wide range of migration challenges – always with observance of and respect for migrants' rights at their core.

While the Bali Process membership can be proud of its tremendous progress and achievements over the past decade in enacting legislation and refining operational responses to the challenges of people smuggling and trafficking in persons, and related transnational crime, these challenges remain prominent features of the migration landscape. This is both attributable to the tenacity of those criminal elements that prey upon migrants as well as the continually changing socio-economic landscapes that influence migrants and shape migration patterns.

Whereas the new century was greeted with unrestrained economic growth that significantly influenced migration opportunities and trends, the world now finds itself at the end of this first decade at the other end of the spectrum facing a global economic downturn that is comparable to the worst economic turbulence in the past 80 years. It too will have a significant impact on migration trends and realities.

Though the full extent of its impact has yet to be realized, intuitively we are already observing that the economic forces that have driven migration over the past decade are similarly impacting on migrants today – though the patterns will differ. Net outward migration is already decreasing and return migration is becoming a prominent feature on the horizon, as job opportunities dry-up and policies shift to protect domestic workforces.

It is during these times that the more vulnerable migrant populations are further marginalized, particularly those cross-border migrants who in good times are received informally to fill low-skilled sectors of the economy. They now find themselves to be subject to expulsion or deportation, making them all the more vulnerable to exploitation at the hands of smugglers and traffickers.

In turn, lesser developed countries of origin that have benefited from the remittances and skill development that their migrants have enjoyed while abroad are now faced with the dilemma of receiving back their citizens to struggling economies that too have been weakened by the current economic environment.

It is not my intention to paint a gloom and doom scenario, but rather to underscore the fact that Bali Process' work to promote more effect responses to migration challenges is as relevant today as it was at its inception. Managing migration is an evolving process that requires flexible and adaptive approaches, predicated by sound legislative and policy frameworks. It is without question that the Bali Process membership on a whole is much better placed to react to these challenges today, than it was in 2002.

It is therefore important, as we sit here today to consider and define future direction of the Bali Process that the membership seeks to integrate forward looking strategies that will continue to build regional capacity to address emerging challenges, whether environmental, economic, political or otherwise. The projected slowing of migration in line with the economy does not suggest a solution to the challenges that more robust periods of migration present, but perhaps provides a bit of breathing room to put in place lacking migration policies and structures that will both contribute to the rebuilding of the economy and continue to mitigate criminality within migration; and, that will address acute challenges impacting states within the region.

For its part, IOM will continue to provide assistance to the Bali Process and support it membership build their migration management frameworks through both holistic migration management programming and projects that specifically address migration management priorities and challenges.

We will also work through our global network of offices to facilitate cooperation among and between other regional consultative processes to bridge gaps and promote information exchange and sharing. In this light, I would like to call attention to the upcoming Global Meeting of Regional Consultative Processes (RCP) that will be held in Bangkok from 4-5 June 2009, which will bring together major RCPs addressing migration across the globe.

In short, we will continue to work with you to meet the emerging challenges that impact on migration within the region, working with you to achieve the common goal to promote positive migration outcomes and diminish the exploitation of migrants.