Indonesia mulls joint patrols in disputed waters

Indonesia is looking into the possibility of temporarily turning disputed border areas with Malaysia into a jointly managed territory to avoid more border incidents, local media reported on Friday.

Arief Havas Oegroseno, director general for international treaties and legal affairs at the Foreign Ministry, said the government would hold discussions with Malaysia about possible options to manage the disputed territory before both countries could settle their sovereignty claims, according to the Jakarta Post.

Ties between Indonesia and Malaysia frayed recently after three Indonesian officials from the Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry were arrested by Malaysian authorities in waters off Riau Islands province, sparking public anger in Indonesia.

The waters are part of an area claimed by Malaysia after it issued its new map in 1979. Jakarta and Kuala Lumpur have pending maritime border settlements, covering the Malacca Strait, Singapore Strait, the South China Sea and the Sulawesi Sea.

Border negotiations have not started because Malaysia said it would have to clear up similar issues with Singapore before starting talks with Jakarta.

Havas said Jakarta was open to proposals for special operational arrangements in the territory that might see authorities from both sides engaged in joint patrols similar to the situation in the Malacca Strait.

"In the Malacca Strait, which is a more complex issue and covers also a large area, we managed to arrange a coordinated patrol with the Malaysian navy," said Havas, who has recently been installed as the new Indonesian ambassador to the European Union (EU).

"However, I have no details of the proposal and it is just one of the options we can explore [pending a decision on sovereignty claims]," he added.

He said the area would have to be managed together and should not become a "no-go zone" because issues of navigation safety and environment in the area had to be addressed.

"We have to control the traffic of third-party vessels in the area and a 'no-go zone' would not be an option," he said, adding that another issues was how to manage fishing vessels from both countries in the disputed area.

"We have had a similar agreement with Malaysia on fishing vessel management since 1982 in certain areas where traditional fishermen from both countries are allowed to operate. It can be a model we can use," he was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying.

Source: Xinhua