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View all search resultsASEAN is challenged by the Sabah issue, yet again
However, it is evident that mechanisms for intra ASEAN peaceful settlement of disputes exist but are not invoked.
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T
he issue of Sabah or North Borneo, as it was known until 1963, was brushed under a legal carpet of convenience ever since the Malaysian Federation was formed. Sabah lies on the island of Borneo, the world’s third largest island astride the maritime routes of ASEAN.
About 73 percent of the island is the territory of five Indonesian provinces. It proposes to have its new capital in the resource-rich island which it calls Kalimantan. The small country of Brunei is located on Borneo and the remainder is the territory of Sabah and Sarawak in Malaysia.
The issue was reignited when the Philippines Foreign Secretary, Teodoro Locsin, Jr. challenged an innocuous United States Embassy tweet in July 2020 on humanitarian assistance to Filipinos who came from Sabah. The Filipino minister said Sabah was not in Malaysia. A diplomatic spat ensued with Malaysia, who also approached the United Nations, not ASEAN.
When ASEAN was born in 1976 the atmosphere was more conducive. At the ASEAN Summit in August 1977, Philippines President Marcos announced that he would try and end this left-over issue but this was not followed up. When diplomatic ties with Malaysia were normalized, Philippines ceased to press the Sabah issue either bilaterally or within ASEAN.
In 2002, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) took up a case between Malaysia and Indonesia on the islands of Ligitan and Sipadan. Philippines sought to be impleaded as a claimant to the North Borneo as successor to the state of Sulu but the ICJ declined their request as it did not see these islands, despite proximity to North Borneo, as linked issues. The Islands were awarded to Malaysia. The issue has laid there like a sleeping dragon.
ASEAN has done well to hold its pack together after the travails of Malaysian formation and the Vietnam War. It had rarely had to face such mutual attacks on each other by member states. The Preah Vihear case between Thailand and Cambodia and the recurrent Rohingya issue in Myanmar have been difficult for ASEAN to handle.
ASEAN has built a multifaceted community including a defense and security pillar. At inception, it lacked specialized systems to deal with internal disputes unlike the African Union which has its own Peace and Security Council etc. Lack of avenues to help hold the peace and prevent escalation often leads to holding the situation and putting issues on hold as in the Sabah case.
