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7th September, 2010
KOTA KINABALU: Malaysia and Indonesia will jointly develop standard operating procedure (SOP) and rule of engagement (ROE) for their maritime enforcement agencies so as to prevent a repeat of provocative incidents in future.
In the wake of the August 13 incident, both countries have agreed that enforcement agencies – Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency from Malaysia and Maritime Security Coordinating Board from Indonesia – be included in the existing General Border Committee for this purpose.
While an agreement is to be developed, Foreign Minister Datuk Anifah Aman said Malaysia has decided that Indonesian officials won’t be handcuffed or required to wear detainee’s clothing in the event a similar incident recurs in future.
“The existing SOP is not meant exclusively for Indonesians as it is also applied to our own citizens or other nationals.
“But taking into consideration our close relationship with Indonesia and the feelings of the people of Indonesia, we agreed to relax the procedure,” he told reporters at a joint press conference with his Indonesian counterpart Dr R.M. Marty M. Natalegawa here yesterday.
Anifah also said the arrest of the three Indonesian officials was in accordance with Malaysian standard operating procedure and that the treatment given to the officials was not as bad as reported by certain media.
“However, in our discussion with Bapak Marty, we have agreed that in future, enforcement agencies of both Malaysia and Indonesia will pay serious attention to the sensitivity of the people and the government in both countries,” he said.
And, he also said both countries would emphasise on ensuring the Vienna Convention on Consular Relations was observed, and the authorities in both countries would always immediately notify their counterparts of any arrest involving their nationals.
The Indonesian Foreign Minister meanwhile said there was a pressing need to have an agreed SOP and ROE in the wake of the incident last month which had led to both countries intensifying discussions on cross-border issues.
“I think none of us are happy about what happened. But, but most importantly we are drawing lessons from it and we are making necessary adjustments to ensure this sort of incident does not recur.
“I must emphasise the importance of the announcement by Malaysian government, with respect to the way they will enforce the existing rules where Indonesian officials are concerned.
“Of course, ideally, we want to avoid such a situation where the procedure had to be applied in the first place. But learning from the recent episode, the Malaysian government has assured a special way when handling Indonesian officials,” he said.
Earlier, Anifah and Dr Marty had a meeting to discuss pressing bilateral issues, with special focus on maritime borders and a series of recent related incidents, before leading delegates from their respective countries to talk on counter and proactive measures to handle provocative happenings such as the August 13 incident.
In the incident last month, enforcement division of the Indonesian Marine and Fisheries Ministry detained seven Malaysian fishermen in the Malaysian-Indonesian waters near Bintan, Riau Islands, while the Malaysian Marine Operations Force detained three enforcement officers from the Indonesian ministry.
The case had resulted in various reactions where 37 members of the Indonesian Bendera movement demonstrated in front of the Malaysian Embassy in Jakarta last Monday.
The two countries, in effort to resolve maritime border issues, have scheduled for meetings before end of the year, two each at ministerial and technical levels.
The first technical meeting to be held from October 11-12 will be hosted by Malaysia while Indonesia will play host to the second technical meeting on November 23-24.
“We have agreed that Malaysia and Indonesia should further intensify efforts and negotiations on maritime borders. Apart from Sulawesi Sea and the southernmost part of Malacca Straits, which are the main agenda in our negotiations, there are also some other areas that we have agreed to discuss.
“This includes the territorial sea in southern Singapore, Exclusive Economic Zone in Malacca Straits and South China Sea. The delimitation of the territorial sea in Singapore Straits will be included in the next technical meetings’ agenda,” he said.
The last Malaysia-Indonesia technical meeting was held in October last year in Bali, Indonesia.
On Indonesia’s proposal to open education centres for Indonesian children in Sabah, Anifah said Malaysia has always been concerned about the needs of the Indonesian immigrants here, including education. However, he said several matters involving policy needed to be considered first and that he would discuss with the related ministries in both countries.
On the review of the Memorandum of Understanding on Employment and Placement of Indonesian Domestic Maids, he said delegates from both countries were satisfied with the outcome and would inform the ministries involved in their respective countries to sign the MoU as soon as possible.
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