NAY PYI TAW, Oct. 19 (Xinhua) — Officials and police officers from Myanmar, Thailand, Indonesia and Cambodia are gathering here to discuss cooperation in fighting human trafficking and exploitation of labor in fishing industry in the region.

The two-day meeting, which began on Tuesday, focuses on cooperation in legal matters, exchange of viewpoints and information to ensure smooth investigation of the criminal acts.

Myanmar Police Chief Maj-Gen Zaw Win said Australia-Asia Program to Combat Trafficking in Persons and other organizations are providing technical aid in the joint efforts.

He blamed lack of peace and development for the rampant human trafficking and labor exploitation in the region.

The number of migrants in the region hit a record 65.3 million. Those people easily became the target of human trafficking and labor exploitation, he said ,citing the figure released by the United Nations in 2015.

Win urged the four nations to investigate those organizations involved in exploiting workers, providing basic education to the workers and build humanitarian societies where migrants can be assimilated easily, in order to better protect the rights of fishery workers.

Australian Ambassador said his country is helping in police training, beyond border investigation, repatriation of victims to their origins, among others.

Thai Police Chief Khemmarin Hasiri called for cooperation in sharing news and information in combating human trafficking.

Most of the exploited fishery workers are from Myanmar and fishing boats are mostly owned Thai nationals. They often go fishing in Indonesian territory.