 Your Excellency Mr. Oketsubu Ibe, Executive Secretary of the African Union Commission, Mr. Alexander Pukokchuk, Interpol Executive Committee Member, Mr. Wolfgang Gammert, Deputy Director for Operations at Biropol, distinguished participants, ladies and gentlemen, a very good morning. It's really a pleasure to welcome you to the Interpol and Biropol Operational Forum on countering migrant smuggling networks. Today we welcome over 120 participants from more than 50 countries to Lyon, including representatives from a number of international and regional organizations and the private sector. This level of participation reflects the scale of the challenge and the interest of countries and organizations in working together to address it. I would like to thank Director Rainwright, Deputy Director van Gammert and Biropol for their support in this forum as partners with Interpol. And I thank you all for coming to Lyon. This is truly a joint effort. As you know, Europe is currently facing the largest influx of migrants since World War II. Millions are trying to enter a region to escape instability, conflict or poverty in their homelands. It is a crisis of both humanitarian and security proportions. To have such an influx of undocumented individuals who cannot access the services they desperately need or be identified by authorities compromises the basic foundations of our societies. However, this is not an issue faced by Europe, Africa and the Middle East only. We all know it's really a global issue. In fact, globally there are nearly 60 million people who are forcibly displaced according to the United Nations. Strong political awareness is needed and law enforcement must be one part of the response. Yet, no matter where it is taking place, a concern of this challenge is the smuggling networks behind it. These networks lie at the heart of the problem. Without them, we would not hear about the tragedy of an over turned boat leaving hundreds dead. Most migrants rush the borders to overwhelm authorities or pack on to a train about to leave the station. Their motivation is profit, not the well-being or safety. Profit, which is often used to subsequently fuel corruption, money laundering and other criminal activity. They attract potential clients through kinship ties to media platforms where information is given on the various services they provide. The gravity of this challenge was recently underlined by the adoption of the UN Security Council Resolution 2240 which authorized the inspection and seizure of vessels confirmed as being used for migrant smuggling and human trafficking activities off the coast of Libya. As the resolution stresses, there are many countries and organizations involved in addressing the migrant smuggling challenge and no one actor is able to stop these smuggling networks on their own. Coordinated action among source, transit and destination countries is needed and must include support from the 15-plus observed organizations which are here today and beyond. Coordinated action among source and transit and destination countries, this is what this country conference mainly is aimed to achieve. As a result, this forum here in Libya was convened by Interpol and Europol to establish and re-establish contact among experts building trust between them and foster meaningful relationships that can be sustained over the long term. With this as a basis, it will open a dialogue aimed at identifying roles and responsibilities and allow for the sharing of information and experience for the purpose of developing a coordinated and effective response. Law enforcement is a critical component in the fight against smuggling groups and Interpol believes it can play a facilitating role in the dialogue, strategy and implementation of this response. We want to give options to law enforcement and a toolkit which can bolster their efforts against these migrant smuggling groups no matter where they are on the globe. With the membership of 190 member countries Interpol is ideally placed to coordinate our collective efforts to build such a response in particular connecting the many regions of the world affected by this challenge. As a neutral platform, Interpol also brings value by joining law enforcement in countries which are otherwise unable to connect with one another. The speed at which smuggling networks communicate and move requires law enforcement to have information in real time. This is the priority for Interpol to enhance the information flow between law enforcement to stop these networks something that was stressed in Security Council Resolution 2214. To do this, Interpol will create a specialist operational network against migrant smuggling to build and maintain an information sharing hub on known smuggling groups. This is what the next two days is all about with a number of different events and breakout sessions intended to facilitate closed-door information sharing on suspected migrant smugglers, their linkages and operations. It is about making the specialist operation network as strong as it can be. What participants get out of these events and sessions is information received through international cooperation that can help enhance their national security efforts or the work of their organization. The specialist operation network sets the basis for stronger operational coordination even as we all go back to our respective home country or organization after this forum is over. Yet Interpol provides a platform that will allow you to not only communicate while physically apart but work together as well. A secure and real-time exchange of case information, data and modus operandi across the globe is the priority activity of Interpol. Over the next two days you will hear about the infrastructure we have in place and how you can potentially benefit from it. Such infrastructure allows Interpol to also be operational. The information that is shared through the specialist operation network can be used to help countries identify, locate and apprehend suspected and wanted smugglers and traffickers. Interpol is there to help these countries coordinate multi-jurisdictional cases and to take action on a global scale. In this regard we plan to organize dedicated fugitive roundups using our infra-model operations which help to initiate investigations or progress existing ones. Finally, any information that is shared through the specialist operation network or during the infra operations can be analyzed. Through the creation of a dedicated analysis file Interpol is in a position to provide a return on investment to member countries and those in the global community. This file acts as a repository for storing and making sense of information on these networks to produce a high quality global picture of the threat by our experts at Interpol. However, Interpol's efforts are only one part of the collective strategy. Ultimately, the value and success of this forum and subsequent collaborations depend on each and every one of us and what we gain from our interactions. This is why Interpol and Europol convened this forum for you to get to know one another, share your ideas, experiences and thoughts to generate constructive discussion all to ultimately guide action. I believe that by working hand in hand we can dismantle organized smuggling networks and stop them before they cause further harm and suffering. Certainly, this will be a challenge for the security landscape for the foreseeable future. Even next month there will be a summit on migration in La Valeta, Malta, and Interpol will attend alongside Europol. I look forward to sharing the many good ideas and results that will be generated over the next two days with participants at the summit and we will certainly report back on the progress that is made there during our next meeting. I wish you all a very pleasant and fruitful two days ahead. Thank you very much.