REGIONAL MARITIME SECURITY THREATS IN SOUTHEAST ASIA

Prof. DR. Hasjim Djalal

There are a lot of maritime security issues and threats in Southeast Asia, such as:

1. National Unity and Stability Concerns

2. The problems of

piracy and maritime terrorism 3. Territorial claims delimitation

and

maritime boundaries 4. Major power interests

, particularly the problem of navigation through the straits of Malacca and Singapore and through the archipelagic sea lanes 5. The

foreign military intelligent activities in the EEZ

I. National Concerns

For

Indonesia,

the following issues are among the most important:

1. Maintaining the National Unity and Integrity of Indonesia

Throughout its history, the continuous challenge of any Indonesian Government is

to maintain the national unity and integrity of Indonesia

as a whole within the Unitary State of Indonesia.

2.

Eliminating Illegal Fishing

Other concern of Indonesia is how to make the rich maritime resources contribute to the welfare of the Indonesian people as a whole.

Illegal fishing

is one of the main economic and security concerns. Indonesia lost about 3 billion US Dollars a year as the result of illegal fishing.

3. Eliminating all kinds of Smuggling and Violations Smuggling, illegal entry, intrusion of terrorist elements, piracy and armed robberies, illegal traffic in drugs, illegal human trafficking, illegal exploitation of natural resources, such as illegal logging and sand mining

. About US$ 3 billions a year of logging has been illegally smuggled out of the country. Billions of US dollars are lost to all other smugglings and violations, including illegal trade of Indonesian

endangered and protected animals.

4. Determination of Clear Land and Maritime Boundaries

It is not easy to

determine the national boundaries in the field bound to happen

and the security. , either on land or at sea, although there may have been Agreements on this matter. At sea, there are a number of unsettled territorial claims and maritime boundaries particularly territorial sea, contiguous zone, EEZ, and continental shelf.

Unless these boundaries are settled by Agreements between the neighboring countries concerned and cross boundaries movement are regulated, difficulties and violations are

that may aggravate the challenges in managing the maritime resources

5.

Shipping through the Archipelagic Waters

The

transit of foreign vessels

through Indonesian archipelagic waters, either through the principle of “innocent passage” or the principle of “archipelagic sea lanes passage” is another challenge. The challenge is

how to ensure that those vessels, especially military vessels, vessels carrying nuclear or hazardous substances, or nuclear powered vessels, do not negatively affect Indonesian National unity, security, stability and environment.

6.

Geo Political and Strategic Factors

As an archipelagic state, Indonesia is also confronted by various other factors, such as: 1)The

geographical position

of Indonesia is in the cross-road between Indian and the Pacific oceans as well as between the Asian continents and Australia. . While this

strategic geographical position

is very significant for other countries,

it has not, however, brought significant benefits to Indonesia

.

2)The

geographical structure

of Indonesia as an archipelagic state that consists of thousands of islands with very long coastlines and extensive sea areas in between, has also made

Indonesian maritime zones and coast lines very open and “porous”

.

3)The

population structure

of Indonesia is also very uneven where most of the people are living in the western part of Indonesia. This has also brought sensitivities, between the western and the eastern parts of Indonesia which feel that they may have been “neglected” in terms of economic and social development.

4) At this moment Indonesia is also facing a lot of

domestic issues,

including in the area of Regional autonomy. 5)

Political transformation

from authoritarian government to Democracy and Reformation within the last 10 years.

This political transformation has also been affecting the management of Indonesian maritime resources and security.

6) The

economic and financial capacity of Indonesia at this moment

to protect and to maintain Law and Order are very limited. In

the straits of Malacca and Singapore.

Malaysia, and Singapore have been cooperating for the last 40 years to promote Indonesia,

safety of navigation

and the

protection of marine environment

in the straits.

All these require strengthening of Indonesian defense and law enforcement agencies and close cooperation with the neighboring countries, including in making definitive solutions to all boundaries delimitation and demarcation issues.

II. The Problems of Piracy and Maritime Terrorism in Southeast Asian Waters

1. UN Law of the Sea Convention (UNCLOS) on Piracy

According to article 100 of UNCLOS 1982, piracy is an illegal act “

on the high seas

or in any other place outside the jurisdiction of any

“armed robbery”

or state”.

“sea robbery” An act of

should be exclusively

under the principle of coastal states sovereignty and national security.

Article 100 of UNCLOS

obliges “all states to cooperate to the fullest possible extent in the repression of piracy

”. A seizure on account of piracy may be carried out only by

warship or military aircraft

, or other ship or aircraft clearly marked and identifiable as

being on government service and authorized to that effect.

2.

Indonesian Situation

• Piracy or armed robberies in Indonesian Waters is a

serious crime under Indonesian Criminal Law

punishable by up to 15 years imprisonment or even

death penalty or life imprisonment

if the crime resulted in death of the person/persons in the pirated ships.

• Indonesia requires

more than 300 vessels

to protect its maritime space and resources, as well as plenty of port facilities, human resources and technology for that purpose. So far it has

only about 115 vessels,

and out of these there are only about

25 vessels that are operating at sea

at a particular moment.

• Indonesia is fully aware that

piracy and armed robberies

continue to draw the attention of the maritime powers. In the western waters, there has already been efforts to strengthen Indonesian law enforcement capabilities in the area particularly by

increasing surveillance and monitoring system as well as response capabilities.

Consequently, there has been a marked reduction of incidents of piracy and armed robberies in the area within the last several years.

3. Straits of Malacca & Singapore 1)Specifically with regard to

the Straits of Malacca and Singapore

, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Singapore have been cooperating to promote safety of navigation with the support of Japan within the last 40 years. The three coastal states, through bilateral mechanism, have also cooperated and coordinated their patrol to deal with illegal acts at sea particularly armed robberies.

2)It should be noted that

article 43 of UNCLOS

stipulates cooperation between user states and states bordering a strait. Japan and other countries have recently cooperated with the three coastal states through the establishment of Cooperative Mechanism, contributing financially to “

Revolving Fund

”, and other means to promote safety of navigation in the

Straits of Malacca and Singapore.

3)It is my understanding that Indonesia would welcome initiative from the users and user states as well as other stake holders

: to assist Indonesian law enforcement and security apparatus at sea to maintain and strengthen their capabilities

.

4. Regional Approaches 1)Each country in Southeast Asia have also

been cooperating with each other

such as: a. The 1992

Indonesia-Singapore Agreement

on

coordination of patrols

and

hot pursuit

to combat piracy and armed robbery at sea. b. Similar arrangement between

Indonesia and Malaysia

under the auspices of the

General Border Committee (GBC)

to deal with maritime issues arising out of the common border.

c. The Malaysia-Philippines Border Patrol Coordinating Group (MPBPCG) has also been established through which the enforcement Agencies of Malaysia and the Philippines conduct border patrol operations in the maritime areas.

d.A tripartite agreement between Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippines, dated May 7, 2002, on information exchange and establishment of communication procedures relating to some 11 issues, namely on 1.

terrorism, 2. money laundering, 3.

smuggling, 4. piracy/armed robberies, hijacking, 6. intrusion, 7. illegal entry, 5.

8.

drug trafficking, 9. theft of marine resources, 10. marine pollution and 11. illicit trafficking in arms.

2)Similar cooperation also exist between

Malaysia and Singapore

in which the Police Department of the two countries provide a forum to share and discuss maritime issues and criminal activities affecting both countries.

3)

The Royal Thai Navy

has also tried to build up good relations with its neighbors for the purpose of protecting mutual interest at sea. By conducting

Joint patrols

along their sea boundaries.

5. ASEAN Efforts 1)ASEAN itself has taken a lot of initiatives in attempting to combat piracy and armed robberies in ASEAN seas and waters.

ASEAN Plan of Action

to Combat Transnational Crimes

covers 8 areas

namely : (a)

trafficking of persons, (b) illicit drugs trafficking, (c) money laundering, (d) sea piracy, (e) terrorism, (f) smuggling of small arms, (g) cyber crime, and (h) commercial crime

.

2) Specifically, the Agreement includes commitments to: a.

Establish a compilation of national laws and regulations

of ASEAN Member Countries pertaining to piracy and armed robbery at sea. b.

Exchange o information and enhance cooperation with the specialized UN agency

c.

d.

Compile national studies

to determine trends and “modus operandi” of piracy.

Consider the feasibility of developing multilateral or bilateral legal arrangements

to facilitate apprehension and investigation.

e. Enhance programs for anti-piracy coordinated patrols.

f. Enhance

cooperation and coordination in law enforcement and intelligence sharing on piracy and armed robbery

.

g. Enhance and seek

training programs

within ASEAN and ASEAN Dialogue Partners.

h. Strengthen and

enhance the existing cooperation among National Focal Points of ASEAN Countries

involved in combating and suppressing piracy.

i.

j.

Seek technical assistance from ASEAN Dialogue Partners, users of the waterways

and other relevant specialized agencies.

Financial assistance

for increased patrolling of particular vulnerable sea areas.

6. Other Initiatives 1)

Regional Cooperation Agreement on Anti Piracy (ReCAPP).

2)

European Union in the EU – ASEAN Experts Group Meeting on Maritime Security

emphasized the need for cooperation to combat piracy as well as other trans-national crimes, including trans national

/maritime terrorism.

3)

ASEAN Regional Forum

(ARF) has also begun to take up the issues of piracy.

4)The United States has also championed the

Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI), the Regional Maritime Security Initiative (RMSI), and the Container Security Initiative (CSI).

7. The South China Sea Workshop

1)The

Workshop on Managing Potential Conflicts in the South China Sea

begun to look into the matter of security since the 1st Workshop in Bali in 1990. 2)It was subsequently agreed that the areas of cooperation in the South China Sea “may include cooperation to

promote safety of navigation and communication, to coordinate search and rescue

,

to combat piracy and armed robbery

, to promote the

national utilization of living resources, to protect and preserve the marine environment.

3) There were agreements in the Workshop since 1995 on aumber of issues

8.

The Challenges

The challenges include: 1) How to promote and strengthen the

ability of national governments

2) The

possibility of “alliance” between maritime crimes and international terrorism should be further studied

.

3) The

promotion of border cooperation between and among neighbouring countries

.

4) Promote solution and agreement on

maritime boundaries delimitation

5) Various

efforts at regional level to promote regional understanding and cooperation in this area of security should be supported

, either

formal or informal

. 6) Coastal states of Southeast Asia should cooperate with the user states to formulate and take anti-piracy policies and activities and user states should extend support in this regard.

III.

Territorial Claim and Maritime Boundaries Delimitation

1. There are

many territorial claims and maritime boundaries delimitation issues

in Southeast Asia over the reefs, rocks and islands. The various territorial claims have further complicated the problems of maritime delimitation.

2. There are

various maritime areas that should be delineated

.

3. The

absence of the agreed and respected maritime boundaries

could have difficulties in managing the maritime resources as well as in promoting law enforcement activities that could threaten maritime security in Southeast Asia. 4. With regard to the

territorial claims

and

maritime boundaries

in the South China Sea, and Sulu Sea a lot of things need to be done.

IV. The Interest of Major Powers

1. The bipolar world after the 2nd World War seems to have changed by the rise of new powers in the world, particularly India and China. In ideology or believe, there seems to be the

revival of Islam

in many parts of the world. 2. In term of

geo-strategy

, the role of maritime dimensions has also increased considerably. The world trade and economy is increasingly united by the maritime connection. The maritime domain is also offering new potentials for resources development, including ocean energy

3. In the Asia Pacific Region,

China and India are also now increasingly becoming maritime powers

, and therefore are increasingly seen as more interested in wider oceans beyond their shores. 4. In between all these lie

South East Asia

which occupies the most significant maritime position in this equation.

While South East Asia continue to be closely linked to the US and Japan, its relations with China are now developing dramatically within the last few years.

5. At the end of the last century, there was a great hope in South East Asia that the maritime order could be solved by the inception of the Law of the Sea through the UNCLOS 1982. While the UNCLOS provisions are still the basis for new maritime world order, including in South East Asia, its implementation have, however, brought some problems, such as on delimitation, outer limit of continental shelf, the roles of rocks and islands and the right of navigation and overflight.

6. In the face of the global strategic significance of South East Asia and its maritime zone some South East Asian countries are still struggling with the efforts to make use of the UNCLOS provisions. 7. It would be possible to forge better understanding and cooperation between Southeast Asian Countries and the outside major powers, including the European Union on maritime security issues in Southeast Asia and its surrounding seas.

V. Military Exercise and Intelligence Gathering Activities in the EEZ of Other Countries

1. Misunderstandings regarding military activities in foreign EEZs have become all too common. Navies are expanding and technology is advancing while coastal States are placing increasing importance on control over their EEZs. These opposing trends, if not dealt with properly, will endanger maritime security.

2. Confusion and differences of opinion regarding

the regime governing military activities in the EEZ

further complicates the issue. 3. A number of individuals from different countries around the world have attempted to draw up

“guidelines

” for these activities.

4. There was not much development of the global attentions to the guidelines.

VI.

Conclusions

a. Defending stability, national unity and law and order in the wide Indonesian seas are important for both Indonesia and other countries. b. Indonesia and its partners have common interest in seeing the development of a viable and prosperous Indonesia and Southeast Asian. c.

In

conclusion,

the

prospect for promoting maritime security In Southeast Asia is possible

based on common and converging interests: Indonesia, Southeast Asia, and maritime powers have common interest in seeing the development of a credible Indonesian security and law enforcement capabilities.