Indonesian soldiers are alleged to have crossed into Papua New Guinea, in what the Commander of the Defence Force, Gilbert Toropo, has described as a total disrespect of the country’s sovreignty.
This follows an incident in which PNG forces captured ten Indonesian fishermen inside PNG territory and sent them back.
There are different stories about the fate of the fishermen, and it’s alleged Indonesian troops have twice crossed into Western Province asking local people questions about what happened to them.
General Jerry Singirok, spokesman for the PNG Flag Officers League, which represents all former commanders of the PNG Defence Force, tells Bruce Hill he’s been warning for years that more effort must go into building up proper border protection.
SINGIROK: The allegation was that a few weeks ago the fishermen illegally crossed into Papua New Guinea water around the Tarasi(?) area and it was alleged that the PNG soldiers told them to swim ashore, and in the process five of them went missing. I have yet to see a brief on the actual incident itself.
HILL: And as a result it’s alleged now that Indonesian soldiers have crossed into PNG territory allegedly looking for these fishermen who made it to shore?
PNG INDON INCURSION
SINGIROK: Yes that is correct, that’s the follow-up as a result of that.
HILL: Well the Defence Force Commander Gilbert Toropo has described this as a total disrespect of PNG’s sovereignty. Is he correct in this assertion do you think?
SINGIROK: Yes well if it’s true that the Indonesian citizens where the security forces, military or navy or civilians coming into PNG border, it’s illegal. But I say that this is the price that Papua New Guinea government is paying for lack of paying attention to the capacity and capability of the PNGDF. I have many, many times pointed out that we have a porous border, and unless we have a very, very solid amicable relationship, security relationship with Indonesia, we will experience border skirmishes. And I’ve been saying this over the past 20 years. What happened now is a direct result of the lack of attention by the PNG authorities; one to establish a good dialogue with a very important partner, a neighbour of ours, Indonesia, and second, to resource the defence force with capabilities, operational platforms so that they can operate, and thirdly, that both the Indonesian military and the PNGDF should work together so that we do not end up in this situation.
HILL: Well the Indonesian government says that their soldiers aren’t allowed to cross the border without asking permission from the PNG government. They say that their forces haven’t crossed the border. Has there been any confirmation that this has in fact happened?
SINGIROK: Yes and that’s where we are, the absence of a report on both sides we cannot speculate. But having said that if there’s some truth in what has happened, then this is the time now to be strong diplomatically, politically so that we do not endanger unnecessary lives one, and we make sure that the military on both sides conduct themselves according to the rules of engagement as established by both countries.
HILL: You could see it from the Indonesian army’s point of view couldn’t you, there are reports, don’t know how true they are, that some of these fishermen might have been mistreated or didn’t make it to shore. You could perhaps see why understandably they might want to cross the border trying to find out what happened?
SINGIROK: Yes this is what I mean, in the absence of a checkpoint, in the absence of an established physical establishment or some kind of infrastructure where information is exchange to assist, in the absence of that, this sort of incident is likely and bound to happen.
HILL: If these incidents keep occurring how dangerous could that be for Papua New Guinea?
SINGIROK: It’s very dangerous, it is natural that border skirmishes will continue and until both governments get together and do some real, real permanent long-term solutions, this can get out of control, it’s likely to get out of control.
HILL: What do you mean by get out of control? What’s the worst case scenario?
SINGIROK: The border skirmishes I’m talking about. In the absence of government ownership of the border, of the security issues, of the operational capabilities of the PNGDF, we will continue to have incremental deaths, if indeed the incidents are as reported are true. I’m just calling that this is time, this year 2014 is a very important year that both governments must do something constructive so that we prevent this. I’ve been predicting this for a long time and I realise that yes we can have all these cocktail parties and whatever, but when it comes down to the real crunch of the matter, we really need to set down the platform. And in this case we don’t have a consistent platform to work on.
2014 ABC