Bali Island, Indonesia  - The global financial crisis may force more people to seek better lives in more prosperous countries, leading to more people-smuggling and trafficking, Australia's foreign minister said Wednesday.

   Economic and security situations driving the trade have changed since 2003, and the Asia-Pacific region needs to work together to deal with the scourge, Stephen Smith told a regional conference on people smuggling in the Indonesian resort island of Bali.

   "The severe downturn in the world economy will push more migrants into the hands of people traffickers as they seek better lives abroad," Smith said.

   The minister said conflicts in Afghanistan, Sri Lanka and at the Afghan-Pakistan border had also fed people smuggling significantly.

   The two-day Bali meeting, co-hosted by Indonesia and Australia and attended by ministers, officials and organizations from 40 countries, discussed regional solutions to people smuggling and the fate of Myanmar's Rohingya ethnic minority.

   Hundreds of boat people from the Rohingya Muslim minority were rescued from Indian and Indonesian waters in December and earlier this year after they were allegedly abandoned at sea by Thai authorities in engineless boats.

   The Rohingyas, a Bengali-speaking group living in Myanmar's Rakhine State bordering Bangladesh, said they were fleeing persecution by the country's junta and could be killed if they were returned.

   Thailand denied accusations it towed the migrants out to sea with little food and water.

   The Myanmar government refuses to grant citizenship to the Muslim Rohingya on the grounds that they are not listed among the country's 135 "official" minority groups.

   Indonesian Foreign Minister Hassan Wirajuda said Myanmar, Bangladesh and other countries involved would discuss a solution to the Rohingya problem in the Bali meeting.

   "A verification is underway to determine whether the Rohingyas are simply looking for better economic opportunities or are victims of political persecution," Hassan said.

   Australia also announced that it would give 3.2 million dollars in humanitarian aid to the Rohingyas living in Myanmar's Rakhine state.

   "Australia is concerned about the deteriorating living conditions and increasing marginalization of the Rohingya people in Burma and in refugee camps in Bangladesh," the Australian government said in a statement, using Myanmar's old name.

   Australia has been a destination for asylum seekers from conflict-ravaged countries and the previous Australian government under prime minister John Howard was criticized for its tough stance on refugees.

   Howard's successor Kevin Rudd promised to adopt a more humane refugee policy when he was elected in 2007 but a report from the country's human watchdog released in January said refugees continued to be held in poor conditions.