The Sipadan-Ligitan case

The Sipadan-Ligitan case

The dispute over the islands of Sipadan and Ligitan, northeast
of the province of East Kalimantan, has surfaced again in the
past few weeks. According to existing records, as well as
historical evidence, those two little islands have been part of
Indonesia's territory since 1891, when the archipelago was under
Dutch colonial rule. They have come into the international focus
of attention since being claimed by Malaysia.

In this country, the case is greeted cool-headedly although
naturally with resolve. No less a person than the Minister of
Defense and Security, Edi Sudradjat, responded to the Malaysian
statements by appealing to Indonesians to keep their heads cool
regarding the matter, which is now being looked into by Indonesia
and Malaysia through a Joint Working Group.

In this argument between Indonesia and neighboring Malaysia it
seems that Indonesia prefers to take a low-profile. Rather than
making sharp or strong statements it prefers to sit down and
negotiate with its neighbor.

According to historical evidence, Sipadan and Ligitan are
parts of the Sultanate of Bulongan of the northern part of the
province of East Kalimantan. This is recorded in the Staatsblad
van het Koninkrijk der Nederlanden (Government Gazette of the
Kingdom of the Netherlands) No.53, 1892. The document was signed
by Queen Emma after the delineation of the North Borneo
territorial boundaries with England at the end of the 19th
century.

If Malaysia is in possession of similar evidence, the natural
thing to do is of course to examine how such a thing could have
happened. Has there been any act of deliberate manipulation, and
if so by whom? These questions needs answering so that all may be
made clear.

-- Jayakarta, Jakarta