The Role of ASEANAPOL in Combating Human Trafficking in Southeast Asia

A Comparative Study of Indonesia, Thailand, and Philippines

DOI

10.2991/978-94-6463-646-8_19How to use a DOI?

Keywords

Human trafficking; Southeast Asia; ASEANAPOL; regional cooperation; security studies; cross-border crime

Abstract

Human trafficking poses a serious challenge in Southeast Asia, requiring coordinated regional responses. This study analyzes the critical role played by the ASEAN Chiefs of National Police (ASEANAPOL) in combating human trafficking across Indonesia, Myanmar, Thailand, and Vietnam. ASEANAPOL promotes cross-border collaboration, intelligence sharing, and joint operations, enhancing national efforts to disrupt trafficking networks, prosecute perpetrators, and protect victims. In Indonesia, ASEANAPOL supports joint maritime operations and intelligence sharing to tackle both domestic and international trafficking routes. In Myanmar, the organization enhances border security and offers training to law enforcement officers to improve victim identification and assistance. Thailand benefits from ASEANAPOL’s coordination of intelligence and joint operations, addressing its position as both a destination and transit country for trafficking. Meanwhile, Vietnam uses ASEANAPOL’s resources to counter trafficking in rural and border areas, where it is most prevalent. This comparative analysis explores patterns of trafficking and assesses the effectiveness of ASEANAPOL’s interventions. Case studies are provided to highlight operational successes and challenges in sustaining long-term cooperation. The findings underscore the importance of regional police collaboration and suggest areas where ASEANAPOL’s initiatives require further enhancement to mitigate human trafficking effectively.

Copyright

© 2025 The Author(s)

Open Access

Open Access This chapter is licensed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/), which permits any noncommercial use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons license and indicate if changes were made.

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TY  - CONF
AU  - Muhammad Syaroni Rofii
PY  - 2025
DA  - 2025/01/31
TI  - The Role of ASEANAPOL in Combating Human Trafficking in Southeast Asia
BT  - Proceedings of the International Conference on Strategic and Global Studies (ICSGS 2024)
PB  - Atlantis Press
SP  - 290
EP  - 297
SN  - 2667-128X
UR  - https://doi.org/10.2991/978-94-6463-646-8_19
DO  - 10.2991/978-94-6463-646-8_19
ID  - Rofii2025
ER  -