TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesia, through the country's Immigration DG, and Australia discussed the efforts to strengthen regional security at the 21st DGICM + Australia Consultation held in Siem Reap, Cambodia.
The forum was co-chaired by representatives from Indonesia and Australia, Director General of Immigration Hendarsam Marantoko, and First Assistant Secretary (Immigration) of the Australian Department of Home Affairs Damien Kilner.
In a statement in Jakarta on Friday, Hendarsam emphasized the importance of synergy between ASEAN member countries and Australia in maintaining regional stability.
"We hope this forum can pave the way for a more solid ASEAN-Australia partnership in responding to border dynamics, by building mutual trust and openness of information," Hendarsam said.
According to Hendarsam, ASEAN and Australia are developing more robust operational standards on immigration and border affairs. Improving border facilities was a key focus of the meeting.
Currently, he said, Indonesian and Brunei Darussalam citizens have easy access to SmartGate facilities in Australia.
On the other hand, member countries such as Cambodia, Laos, and the Philippines highlighted the increasingly complex security challenges that require integrated regional coordination. These challenges include irregular migration, human trafficking, human smuggling, and the rise of online scams.
To address these digital challenges, he continued, Singapore and Australia initiated new areas of cooperation through the use of data and artificial intelligence (AI).
"This technology is targeted at modernizing immigration services and strengthening screening capacity at border crossings," he explained.
The meeting also resulted in an agreement to continue the ASEAN-Australia Program of Work for the 2026–2027 period through various regional capacity-building programs.
"ASEAN-Australia cooperation is crucial for strengthening the region's capacity and resilience in the face of changing migration patterns, workforce mobility, transnational crime, human smuggling, trafficking, and abuse of immigration channels," he said.
He added that Indonesia is committed to implementing the Cyber Resilience Program in August 2026. This program uses a train-the-trainer approach to strengthen the readiness of frontline officers against the risks of cybercrime, which is often linked to transnational networks.
Besides Indonesia, other strategic work programs being maintained include the Border Control Agency Management Program (BCAMP) in Vietnam, the Investigative Interviewing Program in the Philippines, and the Document Examination and Facial Comparison Training in Malaysia.
As a strategic step forward, Indonesia has declared its readiness to host the 22nd DGICM + Australia Consultation, to be held in Bali in 2027.
"Indonesia is ready to host the 22nd DGICM + Australia Consultation in Bali in 2027. We will utilize this opportunity to advance priority agendas," Hendarsam said, adding that they include secure information sharing, immigration data interoperability, cyber resilience, data and AI, migrant worker protection, and operational cooperation against online scams and transnational crime.
The 21st DGICM + Australia Consultation is part of the 29th DGICM series, which took place in Cambodia from June 22-25, 2026.
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