A group of indigenous people in Indonesia plans to sue Australia over its ownership of the Territory of Ashmore and Cartier Islands, underlining the unresolved and delicate border issues between the two neighbouring countries in the area, following the independence of East Timor in 2002.
The lawsuit is viewed as the last resort by the Timorese Sea Indigenous People, who live across the Indonesian islands of Rote, Alor, Sawu, and Timor. They claim they have repeatedly asked Canberra to prove their ownership of the oil-rich islands, beyond their territorial claims, over the past two decades.
The people also claimed their ancestors had been fishing around the Ashmore Reef, which is called Sand Island or Pulau Pasir in Indonesian, since 1642.
The islands consist of four low-lying tropical islands in two separate reefs and are located closer to Indonesian territory – about 144km south from Rote Island in East Nusa Tenggara province – than Australia's, which is located some 320km away.
"In 1642, our ancestor named Ama Rohi, from Sawu Island, had fished there. I'm not a fisherman myself but my heart is broken to see that
Historical claims to a place will be a "weak" argument to be used at the court, as seen by Beijing's loss to the Philippines over its South China Sea "nine-dash line " claim at the 2016 international arbitral tribunal, Fauzan said.
But another official offered a much more nationalist remark. Tourism and Creative Economy Minister Sandiaga Uno said in a news briefing on Monday: "Surely, each and every metre of Indonesian land should be defended, especially if the destinations could potentially improve the welfare of locals."
His remarks also resonated with some online commenters, including those that urge Jakarta to learn from the losses of Sipadan-Ligitan Islands to Malaysia in 2002, and Timor Leste, also in the same year.
Responding to This Week in Asia's requests for comments on the potential lawsuit, an Australia's Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said: "Australia and Indonesia have a long history of working closely and collaboratively on a range of maritime and international law issues, including our maritime boundaries and managing Indonesian traditional fishing around the Ashmore and Cartier Islands.
"We will continue to work closely with Indonesia on all maritime issues affecting our two countries and the region," the spokesperson said.
What's behind the dispute?
According to Ferdi, the activities of the Timorese on the islands and their waters can be traced back centuries ago, as graves of the tribe's ancestors and their artefacts were found on the islands. The island was also used as a resting spot for Timorese fishermen after a long night of harvesting sea cucumbers and various fishes in the waters.
It is common for Indonesian fishermen to sail long distances to the southern Indonesian hemisphere, even trespassing Australian waters.
In 1974, Indonesia signed a memorandum of understanding with Australia that allows Indonesian fishermen to fish in 50,000 square metres of Australian waters, including Ashmore Reef and Cartier Island, provided the fishermen use traditional, non-machine boats.
In March, nine Indonesian fishermen drowned after their boat capsized in the marine resource-rich seas west of Ashmore Reef. Their bodies were never found, while three other crew survived.
There are also long-standing maritime boundary issues between Indonesia and Australia.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (Unclos) dictates that an exclusive economic zones of a coastal country can extend up to 200 nautical miles onshore, while the outer limit of a country's continental shelf shall not stretch beyond 350 nautical miles, or 400 miles, of the baselines of the territorial sea.
This resulted in both countries sharing an overlapping exclusive economic zones (EEZs) claim in the Timor Sea, which should be solved through "an equitable solution" according to Unclos mandate.
Australia and Indonesia had resolved their overlapping claims in 1997 with the signing of the so-called Perth Treaty. The treaty established the line between the EEZs of Australia and Indonesia in accordance with equidistance principles.
To this day, Indonesia has not ratified the treaty although its principles have been upheld by both nations. Timor Leste's independence in 2002 had fundamentally changed the objectives of the treaty, which must be resolved through negotiations between Jakarta and Dili.
In 2018, Timor Leste and Australia signed the Timor Sea Maritime Boundary Treaty that settled both nations' maritime boundaries dispute, while Indonesia has not resolved its maritime boundary issue with Timor Leste.
Both Jakarta and Canberra agreed that some of the technical aspects in the Perth Treaty will have to be amended following the signing of the Timor Sea Treaty, but this discussion has stalled due to pandemic and the different perspectives on maritime boundaries between both countries.
Back in Kupang, the provincial capital of East Nusa Tenggara, Ferdi said he would keep marching on with the lawsuit, ignoring the foreign ministry's remarks.
Ferdi also receives tailwind from the tribe's 2021 class action victory over 2009 Montara oil rig spill in the Timor Sea, where an Australian Federal Court granted substantial compensations to thousands of seaweed farmers of West Timor whose livelihoods were destroyed by the environmental disaster.
"I have won the sea pollution case in the Australian court before, and now I believe that the court will side with Indonesia's indigenous peoples," he said.
This article was first published in Asia One . All contents and images are copyright to their respective owners and sources.
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