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