According to the latest data from the International Organization for Migration, at least 2,514 people died in 2024 across Asia’s migration routes, making it the deadliest year on record.  

Of those fatalities, 647 people died at sea in search of a better life—a staggering sixfold increase in just one year.  

2024 recorded the seventh year-on-year increase in migrant deaths in the Asia Pacific, and recent reports indicate that this sobering trend is anticipated to continue. In May 2025, the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) reported two boat tragedies off the coast of Myanmar, with estimates that 427 Rohingya refugees perished at sea. 

Conflict, economic instability, and limited access to regular migration pathways will continue to drive movement in search of safety and opportunity. The reality is that even in the face of known dangers and great personal risk, people are still taking to the sea, often turning to smugglers to facilitate their journeys.  

It is important to acknowledge that the pressures faced by countries in this region are complex and deeply interconnected.  

Myanmar remains a primary source of forced displacement, while Bangladesh continues to host a large refugee population. Indonesia and Malaysia are at the forefront of managing complex mixed migration flows, including spontaneous boat arrivals. Thailand and Timor-Leste serve as important transit points within regional migration pathways. 

While the specific priorities and pressure points for each country may vary, the underlying drivers and consequences of irregular migration are fundamentally regional in nature. There is an imperative to act together—to not only manage current risks but to build resilient systems for long-term, humane, and sustainable migration governance across the Asia-Pacific region. 

A collective, coordinated, and proactive response mechanism is critical—one that can bridge the gap between policy, operations, and public communication. As the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) Voluntary Lead Shepherd for People Smuggling, and 2025 Chair for ASEAN, Malaysia is well placed to take a leading role in efforts to enhance dialogue.  

The RSO and the Government of Malaysia convened a Regional Meeting on Countering People Smuggling and Related Transnational Crime over 27 to 28 May, which gathered senior officials from Bali Process Member States across ASEAN, Bangladesh, Sri Lanka, Timor Leste and Australia. The meeting aimed to advance discussions and next steps in support of regional priorities identified at a 2024 RSO Roundtable on Combating Maritime People Smuggling in the Andaman Sea Region.  

At the 2024 Roundtable, government officials and civil society representatives emphasised the importance of strengthening existing frameworks and identifying practical steps to enhance collaboration, particularly in addressing the challenges posed by increasing boat movements.  

Active progress is now being made to support and strengthen regional coordination. In coming months, the RSO will progress the establishment of two regional networks, bringing together senior policy officials from most-affected countries through the Six Country Irregular Migration Group (SCIM), and frontline responders through the Regional Information Liaison and Outreach Network (RILON) Initiative Andaman Sea Response Group. 

What drives people to the sea in the first place—and why do dangerous journeys persist despite the risks? 

The RSO has undertaken research to enhance the understanding of the drivers and consequences of irregular migration, with the aim to support Bali Process Members to strengthen policy responses and and to identify opportunities to improve regional information exchange.  

In collaboration with the Mixed Migration Centre, the RSO conducted an assessment based on 612 interviews with persons in irregular situations in Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Thailand to help better understand and capture community perceptions and information needs. 

Findings showed that journeys are motivated by a complex, intersecting mix of economic pressures, social and political instability, community and family expectations and the absence of viable alternatives. For many, these journeys are both a last resort and a perceived lifeline.  

The assessment also reported that 15 percent of respondents had tried but were unable to migrate through legal channels—most often due to lack of documentation or high costs—ultimately turning to irregular routes. 85 percent of surveyed individuals said that they had not considered regular migration routes at all.  

Without access to safe and regular pathways, individuals are frequently left with no option but to turn to smugglers—facing heightened risks of forced labour, debt bondage, or coercion along the way.  

Women and children, who make up a growing share of sea journeys, are particularly vulnerable. 

For governments and development partners across the region, the assessment provides actionable recommendations, which can support efforts to close information gaps through public information campaigns and enhance protection for vulnerable populations.  

This includes the call for information programmes and campaigns to adopt tailored messages that consider the different needs of different audiences, such as low-literacy populations, rural or urban dwellers, and that resonate with different cultural backgrounds. 

Behind every statistic for a missing or deceased migrant is an individual with aspirations and hopes, roles and responsibilities, families, friends and an unfinished story.  

A policy roundtable, made possible through financial support from the Australian Government’s Department of Home Affairs and co-organised by the RSO, the International Organization for Migration (IOM), the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in November 2024, gathered experts, policymakers, and frontline responders to discuss strategies to improve the response to people going missing along dangerous routes in Asia.  

The roundtable highlighted the urgent need for enhanced data-sharing mechanisms between origin, transit, and destination countries, the importance of robust civil registration systems, and the need for coordinated protocols to identify missing persons, provide appropriate support and communications to families, and allow dignified treatment of deceased migrants. 

A proposed follow-up multi-stakeholder technical dialogue in 2025 will further support collaboration and coordination across the region by bringing together implementing partners and donors and supporting discussion on regional approaches that promote sustainability and impact in programming and resource allocation. 

As motivations, risks, and pressure points evolve, so too do the routes and methods used by facilitators. 

Global Initiative Against Transnational Organized Crime, Maritime People Smuggling and its Intersection with Human Trafficking in South and Southeast Asia, 2023

The region’s maritime smuggling corridors remain dynamic and adaptive. A delegate-led mapping exercise at the Third RSO Border Forum—the RSO’s flagship capability development event for the Bali Process membership—revealed evolving sea-based routes, operational blind spots, and shared regional vulnerabilities—underscoring the complex, transnational nature of people smuggling in Southeast Asia. 

Key maritime routes identified included vessel launches from coastal Bangladesh and Myanmar, mid-sea transfers across the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea, and onward movement to Thailand, Malaysia, and beyond. Movements of Rohingya refugees by sea have steadily increased since 2017, further driven by Myanmar’s 2021 military coup and declining humanitarian assistance in Cox’s Bazar. With nearly one million displaced persons and limited legal pathways for migration, maritime departures are expected to persist. 

The mapping exercise also highlighted several region-wide concerns. Countries reported overlapping statuses as origin, transit, and destination points—highlighting the importance of a routes-based approach and joint approaches at every stage of the migration journey. Delegates raised concerns around the production and use of fraudulent documentation, and the need to strengthen ability to identify and investigate facilitators, many of whom operate through familial or diaspora ties. Digital tools and social media were identified as dominant enablers in coordinating smuggling operations, and delegates noted that corruption, though widely understood as a facilitator, remains under-discussed in formal settings.

Capacity building is a vital part of efforts to support frontline responders to build knowledge and confidence in identification, disruption and investigations of people smuggling operations, and plays an important role in strengthening cross-border networks and information sharing.   

This week, the RSO will hold its Introductory Course to Countering People Smuggling in Bangkok, Thailand, bringing together law enforcement, border and immigration and maritime officers from Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Viet Nam. The training focuses on strengthening understanding of current trends and regional dynamics, sharing best practices for interception, investigation, information-sharing and building regional connections to strengthen the collective capacity of cross-border counterparts to work together to counter people smuggling operations. 

In September, the RSO will support the delivery of the advanced two-week International People Smuggling Investigations Program (IPSIP) in Cox’s Bazar, Bangladesh, in partnership with the Jakarta Centre for Law Enforcement Cooperation (JCLEC), Australian Federal Police, New Zealand Police and Royal Canadian Mounted Police.  

Cox’s Bazar is a known maritime departure point in the region. By bringing together maritime officials, immigration, border and law enforcement from across the region together in this key location, the course partners hope that participants will strengthen situational awareness and understanding of the key challenges, current trends and opportunities for cross-border investigations. The RSO and partners extend their gratitude to the Government of Bangladesh for its support in the hosting of this course in Cox’s Bazar. 

The RSO has worked with JCLEC and partners over the past three years to regionalise the delivery of IPSIP, which has also been held in Sri Lanka and Malaysia—in addition to the course’s ongoing delivery each year at the JCLEC headquarters in Semarang, Indonesia by the course owners—Australian Federal Police, New Zealand Police and Royal Canadian Mounted Police. 

Twenty years on from the establishment of the Bali Process, maritime people smuggling remains an enduring challenge for the region. Strengthening proactive regional mechanisms is critical to change the direction for the region in its ability to respond. 

At the start of this year, the RSO held a webinar connecting and providing practical support to regional maritime, law enforcement and immigration officials who might be responding to irregular maritime movements. Inputs from UNHCR and regional partners including New Zealand and Canada equipped these frontline officers with the latest information and trends, and shared promising practices and intelligence-sharing techniques.   

Ahead of the 2025/26 Sailing Season—which typically starts from around September each year when attempted maritime crossings reach their peak with calmer seas—the RSO is progressing support for regional cooperation and information sharing in the region.  

The establishment of the Six Country Irregular Migration Working Group aims to bring together senior immigration heads from countries with the most acute shared irregular migration challenges in the Asia-Pacific, to support and strengthen dialogue and discussion of responses at a senior policy level.  

The Six Country Irregular Migration Working Group will also direct and be supported by information and coordination efforts led through the Regional Information, Liaison and Outreach Network (RILON) Initiative Andaman Sea Response Group, bringing together focal points drawn from law enforcement, border and immigration control, and maritime agencies from corresponding Member States.  

A core part of this proposal will be the secondment of officers to the RSO office, working together as a dedicated unit over an extended period of time to promote the strengthening of cross-border networks and information lines, supported by clear links to counterparts and agencies back in country.  

This initiative aims to support long-term, cross-border cooperation on issues related to irregular migration—laying the groundwork for a more cohesive regional response built on strengthened trust, professional relationships and understanding, that can keep pace with the evolving tactics of smuggling networks. 

Maritime smuggling is not just a border management issue—it is a security, humanitarian and governance concern that affects the entire region. Effective action hinges on practical mechanisms for collaboration, timely information sharing, and strengthened capacity across jurisdictions. 

As the region charts a course forward, one thing is clear: maritime smuggling challenges will not immediately disappear any time soon and cannot be solved in isolation—but through coordinated approaches and continued dialogue at both policy and frontline levels, the region can start to build a greater shared understanding, and move toward shared objectives that can yield tangible impact in efforts to counter people smuggling.