Neighborhood security and courtesy

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.