One of the purposes of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) is effective response to all forms of threats, transnational crimes and transboundary challenges, in accordance with the principle of comprehensive security.4 Yet the ASEAN region remains a hotspot for transnational organised crime, including trafficking in persons (TIP) on an unprecedented scale.

Formal and informal mechanisms are in place to support cooperation among ASEAN Member States against this crime.5 Examples include the ASEAN Heads of Anti-Trafficking Specialist Units (HSU) under the ASEAN Senior Officials Meeting on Transnational Crime (SOMTC) Working Group on Trafficking in Persons (SOMTC WG TIP); the ASEAN Convention against Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (ACTIP); the ASEAN Treaty on Mutual Legal Assistance in Criminal Matters (ASEAN MLAT); the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime (UNTOC) and the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children (Trafficking in Persons Protocol) thereto, which all ASEAN Member States are party to; and various bilateral agreements between countries.