Indonesian Military (TNI) chief Gen.
Gatot Nurmantyo said the force was prepared for any possible measure to assist
the Philippines and Malaysia in operations to release the hostages believed to
be held by the Abu Sayyaf militant group.
The Philippines has given a green
light for Indonesian assistance, although a formal agreement has yet to be
made.
Southern territories have long been a
source of trouble for the Philippines and have even been called a ‘terrorist safe
haven’.
What is happening in the southern Philippines?
Repeated kidnappings by Abu Sayyaf
militants in the Sulu Sea, and most recently in Malaysian waters.
·
March 26
Ten sailors were kidnapped from the Brahma
12 and the barge Anand 12. A circulating port clearance document stated that the
tugboat departed for the Philippines from Banjarmasin, South
Kalimantan, on March 15, carrying coal and 16 crewmen. The hostages were
released in early May after what Foreign Minister Retno LP Marsudi called
‘total diplomacy’. No ransom was paid to the militants, according to the
government.
·
April 15
Four hostages were taken from the Henry
tugboat and the Christy barge in a failed hijacking attempt by Abu Sayyaf
members. "The ships were on their way home from Cebu in the
Philippines to Tarakan [in North Kalimantan],” said the Foreign
Ministry’s director for the protection of Indonesian nationals and entities
abroad, Lalu Muhammad Iqbal.
Six Indonesian crew members evaded
kidnapping after intervention by Malaysian authorities to protect the vessels. Five crew members returned to Jakarta late April, but
one stayed in Malaysia to receive medical care after being shot during the
ordeal.
The hostages were handed over to
Philippine authorities after 25 days in Abu Sayyaf captivity near the Sulu
islands in southern Philippines. Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu stated that the
government had not paid to free the hostages, but did not know about
a possible ransom from the shipping company.
·
June 20
Seven of the 13 crewmen aboard the tugboat Charles 001
and its barge Robby 152 were taken hostage while sailing through Sulu waters on
their way back to Indonesia from the Philippines. There were two
hijacking attempts on the boat by two different groups of armed militants
within less than two hours.
The six remaining men who were set free
returned to Samarinda, East Kalimantan, on June 26 after being questioned by
the Navy a day earlier at the naval base in Balikpapan, also in East
Kalimantan, on details of the incident.
Foreign Minister Retno stated that the crewmembers
were united on Jolo Island, but sometimes split into two groups and constantly
moved around. The kidnappers have reportedly asked for a ransom of
20 million Malaysian ringgit (US$4.9 million) for their release.
Crewmen of tugboat Charles had altered their set route
to traverse conflict-prone waters in the southern Philippines in an effort to
save time and costs, a crewman said. Rusianto Bersaudara, the
company that owns the TB Charles, had agreed to abide by the government’s
travel ban on the Sulu sea. However, the company reportedly did not provide
additional funds needed for an alternate route.
·
July 9
Three Indonesians fishing in Malaysian waters were
kidnapped by a group of five armed men. The kidnapping took place in
Felda Sahabat waters at midnight in Lahad Datu, Sabah, Malaysia.
There had been seven crew members aboard
the tugboat. The three hostages carried Indonesian passports, while the
remaining four (one Indonesian and three Filipinos) were let go because of a
lack of documents.
What is the Abu Sayyaf group? How dire is the insurgency in the southern
Philippines?
The Abu Sayyaf group (ASG), “bearer of the
sword” in Arabic, was founded in 1991 and is a militant groups in the southern
Philippines, which is home to many insurgent groups. There are two separate
sources of conflict in the southern Philippines: the Moro insurgency and a
communist insurgency.
The Moro insurgency began as a fight for
independence for Bangsamoro (Moro nation) under Spanish rule in the 16th
century. Abu Sayyaf founder Abdurajak Abubakar Janjalani was at
one point a member of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF), but upon
permanently returning from the Middle East, he recruited other disappointed
MNLF members into what would become the ASG.
Another group, the Moro Islamic Liberation
Front (MILF), which has signed a peace agreement with the Philippine
government, aims for an autonomous Moro region and agreed to give up arms in
2014. It is still unclear how the peace agreement will continue under the new
president, dubbed the ‘true son of Mindanao’, Duterte has been supportive of
Bangsamoro’s autonomy.
(Read
also: Q&A: Philippines under Duterte - what to expect?)
Abu Sayyaf is fighting for an independent
Islamic state in the southern Philippines and is considered by the US State
Department as ‘the most violent of the terrorist groups operating in
the Philippines’. The group mainly operates in the provinces of the
Sulu Archipelago, namely Basilan, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi.
Why must Indonesia be involved?
The kidnappings prove that the conflict in
the southern Philippines poses a threat to Indonesian citizens. Moreover, the
ongoing conflict jeopardizes the freedom of navigation in waters of the area,
particularly in the notorious Sulu Sea. Indonesia has three sea lines of
communication (SLOC), which serve as passages for ships in international trade.
One of these SLOCs, between Kalimantan and Sulawesi, directly borders on the
Sulu Sea.
Although the passage is not as busy as the
Malacca Strait, it is still vital to trade, particularly coal shipments from
resource-rich Kalimantan. Except for the last incident, all vessels were
involved in coal exports.
Another concern is Mindanao’s condition as
a terrorist haven. Terrorism expert from Jakarta-based Institute for Policy
Analysis of Conflict (IPAC) Sidney Jones stated that as it became harder to become
a fighter in Syria and Poso, Mindanao was the nearest jihad to join for
Indonesian jihadists.
What will be done?
The most important task is to secure the
waters near Mindanao, particularly the Sulu Sea, which borders on Malaysia and
Indonesia.
Since the kidnappings, the governments of
Indonesia, Malaysia and the Philippine have talked about greater cooperation in
maritime security. The three countries are set to conduct coordinated
joint patrols to maintain security in border waters. As of late
June, a standard operating procedure had been agreed by all parties and was
waiting to be signed, according to Foreign Ministry spokesperson Arrmanatha
Nasir. Aside from coordinated joint sea patrols, the agreement also gives
permission for the nearest warship from any of the countries to enter
neighboring waters to assist a ship in distress.
Indonesia and the Philippines agreed to work on
concrete steps to secure the increasingly dangerous waters of the Sulu Sea
through the establishment of a sea lane corridor after a meeting between
Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno and her new Philippine counterpart, Perfecto
Yasay.
The TNI has prepared personnel to guard every barge or
tugboat traveling regional waters, with at least four or five TNI
personnel on each vessel.
Is a military operation the best answer?
After the third kidnapping in June, Defense Minister Ryamizard Ryacudu refered to a
military operation as the last resort, to be taken only if the
situation could not be resolved through negotiation. Moreover, Ryamizard added
that both countries preferred to avoid exchanges of fires, as they did not want
any casualties, neither among perpetrators nor hostages. Abu Sayyaf is known to
have beheaded several hostages. To corner the group with a military operation
puts at risk the safety of the hostages.
Indonesia’s domestic situation should also
be taken into account. The TNI has been involved in a military operation
against the Santoso group since 2015, with no end in sight. Guerrilla tactics
employed by Santoso have increased the complexity and difficulty of the
manhunt, and similar tactics would likely be used by Abu Sayyaf to evade
capture.
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