Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper urged leaders from other nations to help devise a global solution to the problem of human smuggling.

He made this statement at the annual Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum in Japan.

The weekend gathering of 21 political leaders — mainly consisting Asian countries, but also Canada, the U.S. and Mexico — is focusing this year on issues ranging from boosting trade to preventing terrorism, The National Post said on 13 Nov.

But on the eve of the conference, as Harper was wrapping up the G20 summit in Seoul, he publicly signalled his intention to also have “important talks” with his political counterparts about human smuggling.

Aides said that during a series of bilateral meetings Saturday, Harper raised the issue with APEC leaders from Malaysia, Phillipines, Brunei, and Vietnam.

It’s a reflection of his government’s political plan to cast the spotlight — within Canada and internationally — on the problem.

The Harper government declared it would crack down on human smuggling after a ship carrying 492 refugees crossed the Pacific Ocean on a dilapidated ship called the Sun Sea to land in August on the shores of British Columbia.

The Tories have introduced legislation in Parliament which includes stiff penalties for smugglers and shipping companies that smuggle asylum-seekers into Canada.

There are also measures that penalize refugee claimants arriving in groups if they are deemed by the public safety minister to have paid smugglers to get them to Canada. Such asylum-seekers could be detained up to a year under the proposed bill.

But Mr. Harper said tighter domestic controls are only part of the solution to stopping “queue jumping and human smuggling.”

“We are going to need stronger and more effective laws in Canada if we are going to deal with that problem.”

“But we are also going to need – and we do have – greater cooperation internationally, particularly in the Asia Pacific region, where a large portion of this problem begins.”

The Conservative government has appointed a “special emissary," Ward Elcock, who has been holding meetings in recent weeks with officials in Asian countries. Harper said he will talk with political leaders about the progress of those inter-governmental discussions.

Still, in Canada, the Harper government has pointed to more incidents which it says highlights the importance of an international action plan to stop smuggling.

In Thailand, in late October, officials arrested 114 Sri Lankans. Immigration Minister Jason Kenney, who is spearheading the Tory government’s anti-smuggling bill, said the Sri Lankans had been “planning to be smuggled to Canada.”

The latest arrests follow an earlier Thai roundup in October of 155 Sri Lankans, some of whom were said then to be awaiting passage to Canada, reported The National Post.