The police in Papua New Guinea are encouraging people in remote areas to report sightings of suspicious people to help prevent human smuggling between Asia and Australia.
The issue of people smuggling was discussed during this week's transnational crimes conference attended by law enforcement authorities from Australia and PNG.
PNG's Crimes Division Assistant Police Commissioner Raphael Huafolo says Papua New Guinea has become a transit point for people from Asia who can easily cross the border from Daru, a western country town, several kilometres from the Australian border.
He says they're trying to make rural people aware of the issue
"During the patrols, quarterly patrols we'll actually have access to outlying villages to disseminate information so that they become aware and if there is any suspicious sighting of people who are not known to the area, it should be reported to the authorities as quickly as possible so we can use the network to actually attend to these things."
Raphael Huafolo says the smuggling of guns and drugs were also discussed.
