Foreign Affairs Secretary Blas F. Ople told the regional representative of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNCHR) that international organizations such as the UNCHR have a critical role to play in addressing the refugee and human trafficking problems in the region.

Secretary Ople made this comment during the call of Mr. Robert Ashe, Regional Representative of the UNCHR.  Mr. Ashe is based in Jakarta and covers Brunei Darussalam, East Timor, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines and Singapore.

“While states have increased their efforts to address these issues, much more can be done with the full cooperation of international organizations like the UNCHR,” Secretary Ople said.

In turn, Mr. Ashe committed to cooperate with the Philippine Government in its efforts in addressing the issue of the remaining Vietnamese asylum-seekers and the problem of human trafficking.

“In addition, I discussed with Mr. Ashe the fact that we have many Filipinos around the world, some in areas that might require urgent movement or transport of Filipinos.  I cited to him the situation of our people in Sabah who were sent back to Mindanao as well as our workers in the Middle East during the use of force in Iraq.  Mr. Ashe told me that the UNCHR will be willing to assist us should similar situations arise in the future,” the Secretary said.

During his call, Mr. Ashe also expressed the deep appreciation of the UNCHR for the key role the Philippines played during the outflow of Indochinese asylum seekers after the Vietnam war.

On human trafficking, Mr. Ashe said that the Bali Process, initiated by Indonesia and Australia, and where the Philippines is a very active participant, has helped to improve cooperation in the fight against human trafficking.  END.