Aceh talks to be still
Aceh talks to be still born, as distrust goes on
Dr Damien Kingsbury is Head of Philosophical, Political and International Studies at Deakin University, Melbourne, Australia.
Negotiations between the Indonesian government and the Free Aceh Movement (GAM), which are aimed at ending the northern province's protracted conflict, look set to fail, with both the government and GAM locked into separate final positions before the talks even begin. The talks, to be held in Geneva under the auspices of US General Anthony Zinni aimed at ending the province's 26 year old war for independence.
The Indonesian government has made GAM's acceptance of a special autonomy package for Aceh it announced early this year the starting point for negotiations.
However, some observers in Jakarta say that acceptance of the autonomy package should be the government's preferred outcome, and not its starting point.
However, speaking in Kuala Luimpour ahead of the talks, GAM negotiators say that the autonomy package is deeply flawed and, being less than independence, would need to be voted on by the people of the province. The Indonesian government has so far refused to accept the idea of a ballot on the autonomy package, fearing its rejection would be a clear sign that most Acehnese do in fact want independence.
Refusal by the Indonesian government to accept a popular vote on autonomy for Aceh has been paralleld by threats of full-scale military action in the province, although most observers say that the Indonesian military (TNI) is already engaged in full-scale military action. There are currently some 22,000 TNI soldiers in Aceh, along with more than 12,000 paramilitary 'Mobile Brigade' national police and some 10,000 militia, mostly in central Aceh.
GAM has about 3,500 armed guerrillas in the hills and an active suport base of around 10,000. More than 2,500 people have been killed in Aceh since the beginning 2001 - GAM claims 6,000 in 2001 alone - following on from the deaths of more than 10,000 in the period from 1989 to 1998, known as the Military Operations Area (DOM) period.
Also testing the Indonesian government's possible acceptance of a popular ballot on autonomy, GAM says that for any such vote to be free, fair and transparent, it would require the involvement of an external organisation, such as the UN or a UN- sanctioned body. The Indonesian government and in particular the TNI has flatly refused to countenance the presence of a foreign organisation to oversee any further ballots, 'nationalist' sensitivity to such issues being highlighted by the separation of East Timor after the UN-supervised ballot of 1999.
The most recent phase of the conflict in the resource-rich province began in 1999, after the outcome of the East Timor ballot.GAM successes in the field, including cutting the Trans- Sumatra Highway, despite an already high level of TNI activity, led to an escalation of TNI and Brimob operations from mid- 2001.Since then dozens of villages and small towns have been destroyed, there are now tens of thousands of internal refugees and there have been well documented reports of numerous massacres, one of which occurred next to the giant Exxon- controlled Arun LNG plant at Lhokseumawe, south-east of Banda Aceh.
Conflict between the Acehnese and Jakarta began in 1953, after Jakarta scrapped Aceh's status as a quasi-independent province following the war of independence against the Dutch. Peace was concluded in 1963 on the basis that Aceh received 'special autonomy' status. However, Jakarta continued to intervene in Acehnese affairs, and dominated the economy, especially receipts from the Aurn LNG plant, leading to an outbreak of hostilities from 1976.
Members of the GAM negotiating team say they believe there was a chance of reaching a compromise settlement with Jakarta up until 1999. But since 1999, they say, there have been too many human rights abuses in the province and the Indonesian government has refused to guarantee that any negotiated settlement would include charges against TNI officers based on crimes aghainst humanity.
GAM negotiators now say that the only possible settlement must involve a ballot on Jakarta's new autonomy package, withthe alternative being a vote for independence.
2. Plate -- The otherwise benign hegemon recovers from the shock of 9/11 1 X 30
The recovery from Sept. 11 shock Tom Plate Founder Asia Pacific Media Network Los Angeles
The terrible tragedy that occurred last Sept. 11 left America not only with a sense of deep loss but a renewed sense of direction and national mission that had been noticeably absent in recent years. Certainly, for the administration of George W. Bush, floundering from the outset for a North Star to which to align its policy compass, the gruesome massacres did the job. Now, we have seen the enemy -- and they are the terrorists. There's not much dissent in the United States about that.
On one level, the inadvertent benefit of what happened a year ago was immediate. In Europe, America's allies began quarreling a little less and cooperating with Washington a little more. Joint intelligence efforts were accelerated, and old tensions were, for a while at least, set to the side. In Asia, it quickly became clear that, with real enemies to worry about -- al-Qaeda and the like -- Washington didn't have to ratchet up problems to solve and improbable enmities to stare down, no time for phantom bad guys of the Washington political opera.
One almost instant such effect was the re-normalization of relations with China. Of course, there were, and still are, serious tensions in the Sino-U.S. relationship (Taiwan, human rights, etc.). But, rather quickly, China became part of the solution instead of the problem when the Bush administration realized -- its unilateralist gut notwithstanding -- that America needed all the outside help it could get. And the Jiang Zemin government played its hand well enough to stay on the right side of the line in the sand being drawn by Sheriff Bush.
Before long, however, the definition of the Sept. 11 problem began to grow enormously. Iran, Iraq and North Korea were famously lumped together as the Good, the Bad and the Ugly -- an evil trio if there ever was one. But with all the ballooning rhetoric came a familiar Washington phenomenon: Mission creep. Having failed to capture or confirm as officially dead Osama bin Laden, the Sheriff in Chief began drawing his sights on a more visible "Axis of Terror" target: Saddam Hussein.
On one level, that's a good move. He's a genuinely bad guy; its possible to imagine that the amount of genuine sympathy for him worldwide, put on the head of a pin, would leave enough room left for, say, the Three Gorges Dam. But if a new war against Iraq ensues -- after the more or less automatic approval of Congress and the rounding up of just enough international support to blur the Bush Lonesome Cowboy image -- the United States will be on a war footing for at least the duration of Bush's first (only?) term.
And that would seriously mar the image of an America that the world admires -- the America that not only won World War II but helped rebuild much of the world after that triumph -- in Asia as well as Europe.
The point was put well recently by China's Tang Shui Bei, now head of the Research Center for Relations Across the Taiwan Straits, a major mainland think tank. Ordinarily advice from China, which imprisons political dissidents and acts in many ways not the American way, doesn't travel well; but Tang -- the irrepressible former head of cross-strait relations for the People's Republic of China -- spoke with obviously sincere conviction of the U.S.' need to diversify its international portfolio. With its rejection of the Kyoto Protocol and several other well-meaning international treaties, America's "kinder, gentler" side -- as Bush Sr. would have put it -- is at risk of getting lost in the war-dance shuffle. One year after the World Trade Center/Pentagon devastation, the United States must not compound that tragedy by diluting its moral standing as a benign hegemon.
For this essential national characteristic was key in obtaining the cooperation of much of Asia in the effort against al-Qaeda. No country, including China, could believe that U.S. designs on acquiring Central Asian territory was the true motive, suggested Tang and his delegation while visiting Los Angeles. But as the United States moves closer to invading Iraq, it looks more like a martial Sparta and less like a cultivated Athens, when ideally America should be striking a balance between the two.
Even the West Coast-based RAND Corp., a famous think tank with an image about as dovish as the Pentagon's, raised this fear in its recent quarterly review. A major essay by prominent experts proposed that America take the lead in organizing a massive world health effort. Enemy bombs are not our only mortal enemies. So, too, are epidemics that cross international borders; and disease and poverty that germinate the cultures breeding terrorism's foot soldiers. What the United States needs is a something of the humanitarian order of a massive first-class global health aid plan -- even more than it needs the head of Saddam Hussein on the Pentagon's platter.
3. Strait9 -- Steps needed to control labour flow in region 1 X 32
Controlling labour flow in region
P. Ramasamy professor of political science Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia The Straits Times Asia News Network Singapore
There are reasons to believe that Malaysia's tough immigration law may not eliminate entirely the presence of illegal migrant workers in the country. The law, which came into effect on Aug. 1, imposes a mandatory jail sentence and caning for those caught entering the country illegally.
Before the law came into effect, the government announced an amnesty in May for illegals to leave on their own accord. At the same time, those who were rounded up were deported to their respective places of origin. The majority of illegal immigrants were from Indonesia and the Philippines.
It was estimated before the mass repatriation that Malaysia had an immigrant population of nearly two million.
As soon as the law came into effect, a number of illegal immigrants were jailed. It is estimated that 300,000 illegal workers have been deported to date. Many more are being held in detention centers.
The question is whether Malaysia can afford to deport the illegals.
In the past, strong labour demand and the need to free Malaysians to work in certain strategic sectors had prevented the government from taking a tough stand against illegals. Given the low cost of employing foreign labour, it developed a reliance on them to attract foreign investments.
From time to time, some attempts were made to deport illegal migrants. However, these moves did not have much economic impact because those deported returned within a short time.
The long and porous borders between Malaysia, Indonesia and the Philippines provided ample opportunity for those deported to make a comeback. Moreover, the presence of numerous syndicates, agents and corrupt officials facilitated the easy re-entry of illegal migrants.
As long as there was a strong labour demand, the government was able to tolerate the presence of illegal migrants. With wages of illegals considerably lower than those of documented workers, they could be absorbed easily into sectors such as construction and plantations. In any case, Malaysians were not interested in working in these two sectors.
However, following the financial crisis of 1997, job opportunities for local and foreign labour began to vanish. Then, the government began to move in a more systematic manner to lessen its dependence on foreign labour in general and illegals in particular.
A fall in the growth rate, lack of employment opportunities and a drop in foreign direct investments were the factors that forced the government to adopt restrictive measures.
Still, it would be difficult to remove all illegals as the economy's crucial sectors -- construction, plantations and domestic services -- are still dependent on both legal and illegal foreign workers. This has led employers to make a strong case to the authorities to go slow in deporting illegals.
What is needed is long-term measures to boost the economic performance of countries in the region as a way to control and regulate the flow of labour. Perhaps, it is time for ASEAN countries to resolve the labour issue within the larger parameter of economic development in the region.
It is unfortunate that the ASEAN Free Trade Area concept pays hardly any attention to labour issues. It is not too late for member nations to put labour on the agenda in the next round of meetings.