President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono met
with Timor Leste Prime Minister Xanana Gusmao on the issue of borders and
ASEAN (The Jakarta Post, March 21). This reminds us that Indonesia and
Timor Leste have yet to settle their shared land and maritime boundaries.
I remember my involvement in land-boundary mapping back in 2003. Ten
years after the survey, the land boundaries have still not been
completed.
It seems that the talk on settling boundaries is in line with the spirit
of Timor Leste’s President Taur Matan Ruak. Within the first few days
after his election, President Ruak made a reasonably strong statement
regarding the issue of maritime boundaries between Timor Leste and
Australia.
The Sydney Morning Herald (April 17, 2012) wrote, “New East Timor
president to take tough stance on boundary issues”.
Furthermore, Ruak was quoted as saying ‘’I see Australia is always a
problem in negotiations because they want to get a bigger percentage.
Most of their agreements depend just on political, not legal,
negotiations.’’ It seems that President Ruak views the issue of maritime
boundaries, especially those with Australia, as a top priority of his administration.
I remember in 2004 meeting with Ramos Horta, the then foreign minister of
Timor Leste, when he gave a talk in Sydney. He argued how important it
was for Timor Leste to secure its entitlement over oil and gas in the
Timor Sea through certain divisions of the maritime area.
In line with his statement, Mari Alkatiri, the then prime minister of
Timor Leste, termed maritime boundary delimitation with Australia as a
matter of “life or death”. Following this, in 2006, Australia and Timor
Leste agreed on the Treaty on Certain Maritime Arrangements in the Timor
Sea (CMATS).
It seems that Timor Leste’s leaders pay a great deal of attention to
maritime boundaries with its neighbors. This is understandable since
maritime boundaries are essential for the country to have access to the
oil and gas on which its economy heavily relies.
This begs the question, however, “How
about maritime boundaries with Indonesia?”
How does Indonesia view the urgency of maritime boundary settlement with
Timor Leste?
Timor Leste is Indonesia’s 10th neighbor with which maritime boundaries
need to be settled. Even though the maritime boundary issue with Timor
Leste is not as pressing as that with Malaysia, for example, it does not
mean that settlement is unimportant.
Up to now, negotiations on the maritime boundaries with Timor Leste have
yet to start. The main reason for the delay is that land boundaries
between the two countries have yet to be finalized.
Indonesia and Timor Leste have managed to demarcate around 97 percent of
the total land boundaries: on eastern and western sides.
These two sets of land boundaries are the consequence of the fact that
Timor Leste has two main land territories on Timor Island that are
separated by Indonesian territory.
Oecussi is an enclaved land territory of Timor Leste that is
geographically located within Indonesia’s territory. This also generates
complicated consequences regarding the movement of people and goods
between the two separated territories. In addition, this also causes a
convoluted maritime delimitation between Indonesia and Timor Leste.
There are three locations where maritime boundaries need to be settled:
the Ombai Strait, Wetar Strait and Timor Sea. While all the three are
equally important, it is fair to say that maritime boundaries in the
Timor Sea are more urgent since that ocean hosts a larger amount of
fishing and other economic activities.
Unfortunately, pending land boundaries have prevented both countries from
starting negotiations on the maritime boundaries. This is, to an extent,
understandable since the terminal/end point of any land boundary will
serve as the starting point of the maritime boundaries.
Ideally, Indonesia and Timor Leste will finalize their land boundaries
first before starting maritime boundary negotiations.
However, this is not the only way to proceed. There are a number of
things to discuss in relation to maritime boundaries and “defining the
starting point” of the boundary line is just one of them.
Therefore, negotiations could start before the completion of land boundaries.
The two countries can start to discuss the possible methods and
approaches to maritime delimitation.
If it is done properly, it is not impossible that intensive discussions
on maritime boundaries could also indirectly speed up the land boundary
demarcations.
Indonesia’s preferred boundaries with Timor Leste are clearly depicted on
the official map of Indonesia. Meanwhile, Timor Leste seems to base its
position on its Maritime Zone Act, which details its maritime claims.
In delimitation, it is likely that both countries would prefer, at least
to start with, negotiations, even though mediation and arbitration are
also possible.
However, there seems no urgency for the two countries to approach a third
party, such as the International Court of Justice, for maritime
delimitations.
It is worth nothing that Timor Leste is now party to the United Nations
Convention on the Law of the Sea 1982 (CLOS). It ratified the convention
on Jan. 8, 2013, and is the latest country to ratify. This can help the
negotiations between Indonesia and Timor Leste as the two can now use the
CLOS as their legal basis in conducting their negotiations.
However, it is worth noting that maritime boundaries are a matter of
mutual agreement and the existence of a common legal basis is no
guarantee of success.
The spirit of the leaders of Indonesia and Timor Leste on border issues
is a positive sign to accelerate the maritime boundary negotiations
between the two.
Defining boundaries is essentially mapping good fences between the two
neighboring countries. This is important; as Robert Frost once asserted
in his poem, “Mending Wall”, “good fences make good neighbors”. ●
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