Myanmar participates in 16th ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime

The ASEAN Political and Security Community (SPSC) annually holds the ASEAN Ministerial Meeting on Transnational Crime (AMMTC), and the 16th AMMTC and its related meetings were hosted by Cambodia through videoconferencing yesterday, and Deputy Minister for Home Affairs Chief of Myanmar Police Force Maj-Gen Zin Min Htet participated in the meetings.
At the meetings, Cambodian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Interior Samdech Kralahorm Sar Kheng made an opening speech and Deputy Secretary-General of ASEAN Mr R M Michael Tene explained the current progress of ASEAN region and AMTTC procedures that are in conformity with the ASEAN frameworks.
Then, relevant chairpersons discussed the outcomes of the AMMTC’s associated meeting such as DGICM, SOMTC and ASEANAPOL. Then, ministers from ten ASEAN member states also exchanged views on the state-level, regional-level and international activities to fight against cross-border crimes.
During the meetings, leader of the Myanmar delegation Deputy Minister for Home Affairs Chief of Myanmar Police Force Maj-Gen Zin Min Htet said it needs to promote the international cooperation as terrorism has the nature of transnational crimes. The firearm smuggling supports the non-state actors such as gangs, terrorists and drug gangs and is also a threat to the safety of the public. The terrorist attacks and firearm smugglings are related and it should combat them. The border crossing plays a key role in human trafficking and smuggling. Therefore, it should emphasize the border crossing cooperation works among the border guards of neighbouring countries.
The member countries should promote the information exchange with the legal organizations especially via the INTERPOL and ASEANAPOL. In doing so, it should not be an interference in internal affairs of other countries and should perform in accordance with the local law of respective countries and international law.
The 16th AMMTC also approved the TOR for implementation of ACTIP and joint statement of the 16th AMMTC. The Ministerial Meeting of ASEAN+3 (China, Japan and Korea) will be held on 22 September. — MNA