Najib pledges to tackle people-smuggling

Malaysia has committed to do its utmost to halt the flow of illegal migrants to Australia, in talks between the leaders of the two nations.

Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd arrived in Malaysia after reports said that up to 10,000 migrants from Afghanistan, Sri Lanka, Burma and Iraq were massing here for passage to Australia by people-smugglers.

Rudd and Foreign Minister Stephen Smith made a rare joint call on Prime Minister Najib Razak to pressure Malaysia to take action to close down the routes taken by illegal migrants hit by wars and the global economic slump.

"I gave a categorical assurance to Rudd that we would do all that we can to prevent the flow of illegal immigrants to Australia and certainly we do not want Malaysia to be known as a transit point for smuggling," Najib said.

"Both our security agencies will be working closely together, as they are now and in the future, in terms of preemptive intelligence, more effective surveillance and in terms of exchanges of information," he told a joint press conference.

Rudd said that Australia would work with Malaysia on improving cooperation on security measures and border control.

"This is an evil trade, people-smuggling. It is bad for the individual, it is bad for the countries concerned," he said.

Earlier, Malaysian Foreign Minister Anifah Aman said the country could not alone stop its territory being used as a migration route.

"This is not just Malaysia's problem, there is a pull-push factor. We have to look at the overall scenario, the origin of these people, what problems they are facing and how we can help them," he said.

"Malaysia has a very long coastline and this is where we need assistance from other countries," he said, adding that the country needed extra funding and equipment to reduce the passage of illegal migrants.

Illegal immigration a hot issue in Australia

Rudd and Smith made the brief visit before heading on to Germany and the 17-nation Major Economies Forum (MEF) in Italy.

"Malaysia is an important economic partner of Australia, an important security partner and important for us also in combating the real problem of people-smuggling," Rudd told reporters in Australia.

"It struck me as a great opportunity to spend a few hours on some practical questions given that people-smuggling is a real challenge for us, the Indonesians, the Malaysians and all countries within the region," he added.

Illegal immigration is a hot political issue in Australia, which has long grappled with the arrival of boatloads of refugees prepared to make the risky voyage from areas hit by conflict and economic hardship.

Australia's navy last month stopped a boat off the northwest coast carrying 194 asylum-seekers, the biggest number in eight years and raising this year's total to 825, compared to just 179 for the whole of 2008.

The developments forced Rudd, under fire for relaxing the tough stance of his predecessor John Howard, to defend his policy as "hardline and sensible".

Rudd last year rolled back Howard's policy, under which many refugees were locked up for years in detention camps, and introduced mandatory six-monthly case reviews in a bid to speed up processing.

On Monday, the conservative opposition repeated its calls for a stronger stance, claiming Rudd's move was encouraging refugees.

"Kevin Rudd having a cup of coffee with people in Malaysia is not going to be having the people-smugglers sitting up there in Southeast Asia quaking in their boots," Liberal Party parliamentarian Scott Morrison told Sky News.

- AFP