Neighborhood security and courtesy

Endy M. Bayuni, The Jakarta Post

Neighborhood security -- whose responsibility is it?

The obvious answer is the neighborhood itself. Even if you try to outsource it, final responsibility remains in your hands. But what happens if you feel that a threat is coming through, and not necessarily from, the adjacent neighborhood, and you feel that your neighbor is not doing its job in defending the neighborhood from such attacks?

In the case of Australia, under a new security initiative, it would simply send its forces over to the adjacent neighborhood and deal with the threat preemptively, with or without the consent of the adjacent neighborhood, in this case, Indonesia.

This is the thinking behind Australia's latest maritime initiative aimed at protecting itself against possible terrorist attacks coming through the waters surrounding their continent, by throwing out a huge security net that overlaps with Indonesian and New Zealand waters. That such an initiative should cause unease with Australia's two main neighbors is probably not surprising.

Called the Maritime Identification Zone, it was first disclosed by Australian Prime Minister John Howard last week. It is now clear that the initiative goes beyond simply requiring every ship heading towards Australia to provide details of its journey and its cargo upon entering the 1,000 nautical mile, or 1,800 kilometer, zone.

The initiative also requires the Australian navy to intercept any incoming ship that fails to comply with the order, or if it is suspected of harboring terrorist motives. This becomes problematic if the ship is in Indonesian waters. The Australian media, sensing another potential diplomatic dispute with Canberra's giant northern neighbors, dispensed with diplomatic niceties and called the initiative a maritime security zone.

True enough, by Jakarta's reckoning, Australian patrol ships could be swarming into Indonesian waters in such a pursuit, with all its attendant security and diplomatic implications. The 1,000 mile net stretches to cover the entire Java Sea (to the north of Java), the Makassar Sea and the Maluku Sea. That covers the huge and strategic territorial waters of Indonesia.

So it's no wonder that Indonesia strongly, and rightly, objects.

Minister for Foreign Affairs Hassan Wirajuda, who was briefed on the initiative by visiting Australian Defense Minister Sen. Robert Hill in Jakarta last week, pointedly told his guest that the maritime identification zone was unacceptable as it infringes on Indonesian waters and violates freedom of navigation. Simply put, he said, the maritime zone violates international laws of the sea.

Minister for Defense, Juwono Sudarsono, who also met Sen. Hill, was less diplomatic when he, as reported by some media, said Indonesia would deploy its naval forces to repel Australian warships that entered its waters. Such a jingoistic response was uncalled for, not only because it was undiplomatic, but also because of the current poor state of Indonesian Navy warships that can barely patrol our waters let alone deter foreign vessels.

If we had the force that Juwono talks about in the first place, perhaps Australia would not have such a low opinion of our naval capability in protecting such a vast expanse of water, and Canberra would not have to come up with such an initiative.

But there are other, more neighborly ways, of dealing with the threat of maritime terrorism than projecting your own power into an adjacent neighborhood. That is by cooperating, by exchanging information and intelligence, and perhaps even by conducting joint patrols. Given Australia's massive resources, it could also provide assistance to the Indonesian Navy to upgrade its fleet of old ships and provide any necessary training.

For better or for worse, this is Indonesia's neighborhood, and the responsibility to ensure its safety, including preventing Indonesia being used by terrorists as a launch pad to attack adjacent neighborhoods like Australia, falls chiefly on us.

Granted, Indonesia has been struggling to patrol its vast waters with such limited resources. As it is, we are already having problems dealing with ship piracy, particularly, but not exclusively, in the busy Malacca Strait; with illegal fishing that has plundered and depleted our marine resources; and with unchecked smuggling in and out of the country. Now, we have to add maritime terrorism to the list of challenges.

Even within its limited resources, the Indonesian Navy is doing all it can. It may not be reassuring enough for our neighbor Australia, but we must defend our pride and integrity as well as our sovereignty. An old Hebrew proverb says "Let your foot be seldom in your neighbor's house, otherwise the neighbor will become weary of you and hate you" is still applicable in contemporary Indonesia-Australia relations.

A little courtesy and little bit more respect and understanding, and probably a little financial help, would go a long way in ensuring the neighborhood security that both Indonesia and Australia crave, and in maintaining the good neighborly ties that already exist.