RSO Border Forum

The Border Forum is the RSO’s annual capacity building event bringing together frontline officers and operation and technical leads from across the Bali Process membership, to map current trends and trafficking and smuggling routes, and to explore on-the-ground challenges and opportunities.

Building networks and sharing knowledge and best practice

Transnational crimes, including immigration-related offenses, people smuggling by air, maritime people smuggling and trafficking into online scam centres cannot be addressed in isolation. The Border Forum is the RSO's annual capability development event for the Bali Process membership, supporting networking, sharing of knowledge and promising practices, and problem-solving on-the-ground challenges at an operational level.

By sequencing the Border Forum ahead of the Constructive Dialogue, the RSO creates an annual opportunity where challenges, priorities and suggestions captured from a frontline perspective, at a comprehensive cross-regional level –can be reflected back to those in policy roles who are able to influence and direct ways of working and prioritization of efforts.

Objectives

The Border Forum is designed to be practical and skills-focused, providing opportunities to enhance technical knowledge and identify avenues for cooperation. The objectives of the RSO Border Forum are to:

Assist Bali Process Member States to strengthen border management and border security, through relevant and fit-for-purpose practical and technical information that can contribute to fostering actionable border management and border security enhancements.
Facilitate opportunities for delegates to share current and evolving threats, trends and international migration routes.
Foster opportunities for Bali Process Member States and other actors to share promising practices as it relates to prevention, protection and prosecution efforts.

Fourth RSO Border Forum

The Fourth RSO Border Forum took place over 19-20 November 2025, bringing together delegates from across the Bali Process membership to share frontline perspectives on priorities and challenges encountered in countering people smuggling, trafficking in persons and related transnational crime. Discussions from the Border Forum were presented to Bali Process Senior Officials at the Fourth RSO Constructive Dialogue, the RSO’s flagship meeting.

Find out more here