The establishment of the Bali Process Task Force on Planning and Preparedness in 2017 aimed to improve the region’s preparedness for irregular migration events and support collaboration across Member States and Organisations to put effective responses in place in the event of urgent forced migration events. The Task Force on Planning and Preparedness, co-chaired by Australia and Indonesia, further seeks to understand and mitigate against emerging drivers for migration.

The purpose of the Task Force on Planning and Preparedness is to develop early warning capabilities of officials and their capacity to coordinate action at an operational level in the event of a large influx of irregular migrants. It supports the Bali Process Consultation Mechanism by enhancing cooperation among operational officials, and providing a practical forum for involving Member States and Organisations on irregular migration issues.

The Task Force on Planning and Preparedness brings together Member States and Organisations to recommend measures to harmonise detection, search and rescue, disembarkation and shelter management through the sharing of best practices of national, bilateral and regional experience in dealing with mass displacements.

The establishment of the Task Force on Planning and Preparedness was agreed at the Sixth Ministerial Conference in Bali (23 March 2016) in response to urgent irregular migration events in the region, including the 2015 Andaman Sea refugee crisis. Examples of areas where regional cooperation efforts are identified for focus include prevention efforts to reduce migration by sea, the development of regional standard operating procedures, establishment of rescue coordination centres, shared training and direct contact lines between regional coordination centres or relevant national focal points.

The Taskforce is co-chaired by Australia and Indonesia and brings together participants from the Bali Process Ad Hoc Group.

Current priorities include:

• A continued focus on regional response to irregular movement of migrants at sea.
• The growing use of technology by organised criminal groups and online scam centres.
• Ensuring support to address the vulnerabilities of women and children.
• Putting in place activities to account for health-related contingencies.

The Policy Experts Gathering of the Task Force on Planning and Preparedness provides Bali Process members with a focused forum to discuss key emerging challenges.