Defining The Concept Of Security

Defining the Concept of Security

The 'security' is multidimensional and complex connotation which is co-existed
since human civilization came into being. The security is conceivably a paramount
necessity to the existence of individuals and the survival of any nation-state. There
is no perennial definition of security to satisfy every age and phase. However, the
term 'Security' is much hyped notion in the realm of modern international relations,
incorporates a range of contested views as a buzzword of the security and defense
studies in modern era. The concept of security progressed comprehensively in the
post-cold (1991) era, which is commonly described as the paradigm shift to bipolarity
to unilateral world order. The phenomenon has emanated globalization as solemn
factor to connecting distant entities and catalyzing the global trade and commerce.
The globalization has shaped a unique sense of homogeneity in the every spheres of
economic, social and political life of mankind and surprisingly revamped the
traditional understanding of nation-state and the threat perception simultaneously.
The security is central among the issues of national interest and considered special
form of politics (Kolodziej, E: 2005). Barry Buzan also reiterated the concept of
security as not either power or peace, but something in between (Buzan, Barry:
2009).
There is no universal definition of the concept of security. Edward Kolodziej has
compared it to a Tower of Babel .
The realist school, which is described as a prominent theory to defining the state
centered notion of security, was called in to question by number of scholars on its
changing dimension. In the traditional notion of security, state is confined as a
solemn actor and security is restricted only to military terms, where the use of force
by nation state is the only threat to another nation. These notions are being
challenged due to emergence of non-traditional security threat perception i.e.
environment societal, economic and cultural in the interdependent world. These non-
military Non-Traditional Security Threats (NTS) are perceived as potential threat to
the individuals and nation state as much severely than military terms. These new
dimensions of security incorporate number of non-state actor into the matrix of
security and loosen the realist conception of security in the growing
interdependence among the nation state. The scholars of post-cold war era broadly
termed as comprehensive security. The concept of an international security actor
has extended in all directions since the 1990s, from nations to groups, individuals,
international systems, NGOs, and local governments (Rothschild, E: 1995).
The another important debate over the security forwarded by Copenhagen school of
thoughts which Security: A New Framework for Analysis is a book by Barry Buzan,
Ole W??ver and Jaap de Wilde The Copenhagen School places particular emphasis
upon the social aspects of security. Securities the paradigm under the political,
societal, economical environmental and military plausible of security is. The concept
of 'sectors' concerns the different arenas where we speak of security. The list of
sectors is primarily an analytical tool created to spot different dynamics.
The concept of regional security complexes covers how security is clustered in
geographically shaped regions. Security concerns do not travel well over distances
and threats are therefore most likely to occur in the region. The security of each
actor in a region interacts with the security of the other actors. There is often
intense security interdependence within a region, but not between regions, which is
what defines a region and what makes regional security an interesting area of study.
Insulator states sometimes isolate regions, such as Afghanistan's location between
the Middle East and South Asia. Insulators mark boundaries of indifference, where
security dynamics stand back to back. They contrast with the traditional idea of
'buffer states' which are located at points where security dynamics are intense (e.g.
Belgium between Germany and France). Regions should be regarded as mini systems
where all other IR theories can be applied, such as Balance of Power, polarity,
interdependence, alliance systems, etc.

Regional Security Complex Theory should not be confused with Regionalism, a

subset of IR from the 1970s concerned mostly with regional integration. For more on
regional security, see Buzan's Regions and Powers.
(Securitization, developed by Ole Weaver, is probably the most prominent concept of
the Copenhagen School, and the one that has generated the most literature. It is
argued that 'security' is a speech act with distinct consequences in the context over
international politics. By talking security an actor tries to move a topic away from
politics and into an area of security concerns thereby legitimating extraordinary
means against the socially constructed threat. The process of securitization is
interring subjective meaning that it is neither a question of an objective threat or a
subjective perception of a threat. Instead securitization of a subject depends on an
audience accepting the securitization speech act.)
In Security: A New Framework for Analysis, the authors lists the following sectors:
Military/state, Political, Societal, Economic, and Environmental. As such, CS theory
can be regarded as 'widening' traditional materialist security studies by looking at
security in these 'new' sectors. After the end of cold war (1991), sed with the volume
of world trade which necessitated its increasing interdependence on the sea routes
for the transaction and conduct of trade. This dependence on the sea route also
increases the threat perception as well real threat due to the vastness of the sea
routes; more so is this Malacca Strait which is one of busiest sea route for the sea
trade purposes. This cause of the tremendous sense of insecurity as a large number
of sea pirates operate across that region. The presence of a couple of failed states
like Somalia, Yaman, Ethiopia, etc further fuelled the complexity of sea-faring by the
container ships carrying trade goods. The recent years have witnessed the number
of incidents calling for a serious study on sea piracy.
Security' is thus a self-referential practice; because it is in this practice that the
issue becomes a security issue ' not necessarily because a real existential threat
exists but because the issue is presented as such a threat'The process of security is
what in language theory is called a speech act. It is not interesting as a sign
referring to something more real; it is the utterance itself that is the act. By saying
the words, something is done (like betting, giving a promise, naming a ship) (Buzan
et al., 1998: 24, 26).

The debate initiated by the Peter Chalk in his book 'Grey Area Phenomena and the
Human Security'. The Peter Chalk had framed it as invisible threats to the entire
nation state he clubbed the term 'Grey Area Phenomena.' It is loosely defined as
threats to stability of the sovereign states by non-sates actors and non-governmental
process and organizations. All the Gap issues, whether violent or not, represent a
direct challenge to the underlying stability, cohesion and fabric of the modern
sovereign state. However unlike the challenge posed by the traditional security
concerned such as overt internal aggression, GAP threat is of somewhat more
transparent and insidious nature ( Chalk, Peter: 2000).
Theoretical aspects of security
The problem of defining security is perceived to be as perennial task of the
philosopher since centuries. Thomas Hobbes belongs to the pioneer of human nature
description of security understandings; he articulated it just being a human. The
material and physiological condition inspire human to get involve an unending
vicious circle of securing their interest and preferences. (Kolodziej, E: 2005). The
absence of any central authority is ultimately led to a chaotic situation and forced to
ruthless behavior of individuals.
Neorealist
Barry Buzan in his book 'People, States and Fear' has propounded the three level of
analysis of security, where each of these dimensions refers to a different of levels
i.e. individuals, state and international system. The first dimension refers to human
security, a concept that makes the principle referent object of security the
individual, not the state. The second dimension is environmental security and
includes issues like climate change, global warming, and access to resources. The
third substrate refers to national security, defined as being linked to the state's
monopoly over use of force in a given territory and as a substrate of security that
emphasizes the military and policing components of security. The fourth component
deals with transnational threats such as organized crime, terrorism, and human
trafficking. Finally, the integrity of diverse cultures and civilizational forms tackles
the issue of transcultural security. According to this multi-faceted security
framework all five dimensions of security need to be addressed in order to provide
just and sustainable global security. It therefore advocates cooperative interaction
between states and peaceful existence between cultural groups and civilizations.
The security and Southeast Asia
History of Piracy

Legal Aspects of Piracy

There is a common consensus on the determination of maritime boundaries among

the nation under the auspices of United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
(UNCLOS) 1982. This convention has explained the division of The 'Maritime
boundary ' of any state from the baseline is separated into three-sub categories
based on distance from the baseline and rights of exploration. The maritime water is
measured by the nautical mile (NM) which is measured (1,852) or (6,076 feet) of
normal land distance. The distance not extended up to 12 (NM) from the baseline is
called 'Territorial Water', where countries have full sovereignty to explore all the
benefits. Distance of 24 (NM) is called 'Contiguous Zone', countries can impose
infringement its water laws and tax. Finally, the distance of 200 (NM) is considered
as the Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ) , where countries have sovereign rights for
the purpose of exploring and exploiting, conserving and managing all natural
resources of the waters . Problem of piracy is existed from the ages but problem
emerged with more panic attributes with advent of globalization which catalyzed the
global trade and commerce and enhanced the importance of Sea Lanes of
Communications (SLOC) .
In the early 20th century the piracy was mere considered a normal criminal activity
and almost ignored to consider as a serious security threat.
Picture 1: Martime Boundaries

Source: http://www.unesco.org/
The piracy is perceived as a normal crime rather than any robbery, hijacking,
violence or terrorism at the sea. In order to institutionalization and the codifying of
the problem of piracy, the first international efforts are known as a 'Harvard Draft'
which was a voluntary study published in the 1932. This study consists 19 articles
where its article 3 defines piracy explicitly:
Harvard Draft

' An act of violence or of the depredation committed with intent acts with to rob,
rape, wound, enslave, imprison or kill a person or with intent to steal or destroy
property, for private ends without bona fide purpose of asserting a claim of right,
provided that the act is connected with an attack on the sea or in or from the air. If
the act is connected with an attack which starts from on board a ship, either that
ship or another ship which is involved must be pirate ship or without national
character.
' Any act of voluntary participation in the operation of a ship with knowledge of facts
which make it a pirate ship.
' Any act of instigation or of international facilitation of an act described above in
this article.
The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982), article 101,
which states that:
a. 'any illegal act of violence, detention or any act of depredation committed for
private ends by the crew of passenger of a private ship or a private air craft and
directed;
1) on the 'high seas' against another ship or aircraft, or against persons or property
on board such ship or aircraft;
2) against a ship, aircraft, persons or property in place outside the jurisdiction of any
state.
b. Any act of voluntary participation in the operation of ship or of an aircraft with
knowledge of facts making it pirates ships or aircraft;
c. Any act inciting or internationally facilitating an act described in subparagraphs
(a) or (b).
The universal acceptance and a well-defined definition are the crux of The United
Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea (UNCLOS 1982). On the other hand, the
problem with the above definition is that, it considers Piracy mere an act which
occurs in the international waters or the high seas beyond the jurisdiction of any
state. The definition is considered as vague due to its ability to make a distinction
between piracy and robbery in the territorial waters and high sea. The International
Maritime Bureau (IMB), commercial body of the International Chambers of Commerce
(ICC), took it in to account and present a revised definition as follow:
International Maritime Bureau (IMB)
'Act of boarding any vessel with intent to commit theft or any other crimes, and with
an intent or capacity to use force in furtherance of that act.' (IMB: 1992)
The definition is the comprehensive and according to the changing patterns of post-
cold war era. The definition has revamped the traditional understanding of the piracy
in the modern era and removes the shortcomings of the UNCLOS definition. The IMB
has incorporated new dimensions in the criteria of piracy. According to the Dillon
Dana, piracy is generally different in in categories and according to current trend he
categorized the in four dimensions.
1) Corruption-acts of extortion or collusion against marine vessels by government
officials and /or port authorities
2) Sea robbery 'attacks that take place in the port while the ship is berthed or
anchored
3) Piracy-actions against ships underway an outside the protections of port
authorities in the territorial waters, straits and the high seas
4) Maritime terrorism- crimes against the ships by terrorist organizations.

Suppression of Unlawful Activities against the Safety of Maritime Navigation (SUA)

-1988
The another important effort to make clarify piracy as a global menace as On
October 1985, the hijacking of Italian ship SS Achille Laura outside the territorial
water in the Egypt was forced to rethink about the shortcomings of the UNCLOS and
IMB, which had mere legitimized the action of any country to tackle the issue of
piracy but failed to provide a legal base to take action against those persons who
are involved to committing crime at the sea. The IMO has initiated a step to take
some positive steps to as the Convention on the 'Suppression of Unlawful Activities
against the Safety of Maritime Navigation' (SUA) on 10 March 1988. The treaty finally
came in to existence in the march 1, 1992. According to its article 3 as follows:
' Seizure of a ships by force or threat or intimidation
' Acts of violence against the persons on board ships if that act is likely to endanger
the safe navigation of a ship.
' Destroying a ship cursing damage to a ship or its cargo which is likely to endanger
the safe navigation ship.
' Placing a device that is likely to destroy or damage maritime navigational facilities
or interface with the operations.
' Injure or kill any person in connection with the commission or attempts to commit
the above offence.
Types of Piracy
According to several existing trends of piracy in the world, we can differentiate
modern day piracy in the following ways:-
' Thefts and attacks on vessels at anchor or pier side- low-level armed robbery that
occurs while ships are docked or moored.
' Robbery of vessels at sea. Piracy at sea typically involves more violence because
crews are detained while the attackers ransack the vessel.
' Yacht Piracy. 'Yacht jacking' is an attack against a private vessel, targeting cash
and marketable merchandise.
' Kidnap-for-ransom. Pirates board a vessel for robbery but also kidnap senior crew
members for the ransom.

Geo-strategic location and importance of the Malacca Strait

The 21st century has witnessed an increased volume of world trade which in turn
reflects the enhancing dependence on sea routes for the transaction and terms of
trade. This dependence increases the threat perception as well real threat due to the
vastness of the sea routes. The changing economic and security dynamism of entire
Indo-Pacific region enhanced the importance of the Sea Lanes of Communications.
21st century has witnessed increased with the volume of world trade which
necessitated its increasing dependence on the sea routes for the transaction and
conduct of trade. In the Southeast Asia, there are some important sea route are
Sunda Strait, Lombok Strait but Malacca Strait is considered as the major
geostrategic centre and a corridor for trade and commerce. Malacca Strait is
handling 30 percent of world trade and 50 percent of crude oil transportation through
more than 100,000 vessels every year. This dependence on the sea route also
increases the threat perception as well real threat due to the vastness of the sea
routes; more so is this Malacca Strait which is one of busiest sea route for the sea
trade purposes. This cause of the tremendous sense of insecurity as a large number
of sea pirates operate across that region. The presence of a couple of failed states
like Somalia, Yaman, Ethiopia, etc further fuelled the complexity of sea-faring by the
container ships carrying trade goods. The recent years have witnessed the number
of incidents calling for a serious study on sea piracy The International Hydrographic
Organization defines the limits of the Strait of Malacca as follows:
On the West. A line joining Pedropunt, the Northernmost point of Sumatra (5??40'N
95??26'E) and Lem Voalan the Southern extremity of Goh Puket [Phuket Island] in
Siam [Thailand] ( WikiMiniAtlas7??45'N 98??18'E).
On the East. A line joining Tanjong Piai (Bulus), the Southern extremity of the Malay
Peninsula (1??16'N 103??31'E) and The Brothers (1??11.5'N 103??21'E) and thence to
Klein Karimoen (1??10'N 103??23.5'E) .
On the North. The Southwestern coast of the Malay Peninsula.
On the South. The Northeastern coast of Sumatra as far to the eastward as Tanjong
Kedabu (1??06'N 102??58'E) thence to Klein Karimoen..

Picture-2
Geostrategic Locations of Malacca Starits
Source: http://www.welt-atlas.de/datenbank/karten/karte-6-847.gif
As a major threat to navigation and global trade and commerce, piracy has emerged
as a major non-traditional security threat, and considerably regarded as one of the
most significant parts of maritime study. The maritime piracy is responsible for the
loss of $7-12 billion per year for the world economy.

Piracy in the Southeast Asia in the 21st century

Sea Piracy has become a concern since the time of sea travel become a possibility.
But after the end of the Cold War (1991), piracy has drawn attention due to the safety
and security of the Sea Lanes of Communications (SLOC). In the post-1990 era, when
globalisation has become a significant factor, the rise in the incidents of piracy
across every sea route of the world is a matter of great concern. There is a
significant economic cost beside the danger involved in piracy, which has
aggravated the situation. During the period of 1997-2012, more than 3,800 actual or
attempted acts of piracy took place around the world. The International Maritime
Bureau (IMB) has emphasized the sea route to the Gulf of Aden, Horn of Africa, Indian
Ocean, Bay of Bengal and Malacca Strait area where incidents of piracy are most
numerous (IMB: 2000).
Around 35% of the world' sea trade passes through the Indian Ocean. However, sea
route is still considered safer than territorial route. Due to the enormity of this
maritime challenge, there arises the need for multilateral regional response to this
problem because unilateral solution is insufficient to deal with it.
For the ASEAN region the concept of security has always been interpreted differently
from the western parameters. Security for them does not confine to military related
security alone. Their concept of security incorporates much wider sphere
encompassing all aspects of life. Rizal Sukma (2007:2) categorizes the current
security challenges facing the ASEAN states into three groups: internal (in) security,
traditional Security challenges and the non-traditional security challenges. While
explaining this security concerns he maintains that internal security concerns have
received the maximum attention of the A SEAN countries. With the focus on state
and nation-building, these post-colonial states 1 have defined their threat perception
largely in terms of social harmony, political stability, national unity, economic
security etc. However, traditional security challenges are not absent altogether.
There are issues of unresolved territorial disputes and border problems that might
shatter the stable security structure of the region. The most pertinent security
challenge in the recent years, nevertheless, is the upsurge of trans-boundary
security concerns. These non-traditional threats do not respect territorial integrity
and create mayhem among people irrespective of their national identity. This
category of security threat is of particular concern in this dissertation. The trans-
boundary security threats faced by the ASEAN countries have an interesting
dimension to it. These are often exemplified by complex interrelationship internal
problems, regional challenges and global pressure. With respect to this, maritime
security is one particular area where such challenging complexities areexperienced2
' Presently ASEAN countries are more vulnerable from maritime threats.
The reason cited out is due to expanding seaborne trade and terrorism. According to
Sam
Bateman (2005: 41) the events of 9/11 and subsequent perceptions of a terrorist
threat to
shipping and seaborne trade have led to a reappraisal of what constitutes maritime
security. Therefore, there is lot more attention given to maritime security in the
region
than ever before. The ASEAN leaders are prioritizing maritime security in their
security
discussions and are looking for means to enhance 'securing their waters and sea-
lanes'.
This is reflected in the interaction at the regional forums (both Track I and Track II
levels) like ARF, CSCAP and Shangri-La Security Dialogue. This study is an attempt
at
analyzing the 'Security in the Malacca Straits', and understanding the politics behind
the challenges facing the security of the sea-lanes. An attempt is also made to
envisage
India's present status and its role in the region.
1 Except Thailand all other Southeast Asian countries have experienced colonial
rule. Western imperialism
crippled the region for centuries and Thailand effectively serving as a buffer between
them escaped
colonialism.

2 There are other transnational security threats as well causing concern in the
region like environmental
threats involving hazing, drug-trafficking, terrorism, arms-smuggling etc. These
Locating the threat of piracy in the Southeast Asia and Malacca Strait
Since piracy has emerged as a central threat to the security of the sea lanes and
poses risks to economies. The Malacca Strait is considered as the major
geostrategic centre and a corridor for trade and commerce. Due to the
transformation of the region into an economic hub, the Malacca Strait is handling 30
percent of world trade and 50 percent of crude oil transportation through more than
100,000 vessels every year. Due to its geostrategic importance, Malacca Strait has
become central to major maritime actors such as China, Japan, India, Australia as
well as Indonesia, which acts like a bridge. Malaysia and Indonesia are located at
the baseline of the Malacca Straits, spread over a span of 642 square mile length and
2.5 miles in width. It covers approximately 2 million square kilometers of water.
After the 9/11 terrorist attack on US, maritime terrorism a fundamental concern for
littoral states. Maritime terrorism is similar to piracy but it has a political objective
to use of piracy as a tool to target the governments by local terrorists and rebellious
groups. Example of this includes the, Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) hijacking the ship on
17 November 2002 in Philippines water.
There are number of the reasons to the rise of the Piracy which differs from regions
specific social, economic and political circumstances.
The Peter Chalk has identified six reasons to the rise of Piracy in the contemporary
era.
' Advancement in maritime navigation technology
' Security threat after the post-9/11 era.
' Lawlessness, chaos, and lack of economic opportunity on-land.
' Willingness of owner-operators to pay ever-larger ransoms.
' Bribing for the fast transaction of the ships
' Global proliferation of arms

Rise of Maritime Terrorism in the Malacca Strait

Al Qaeda's terror strike on aircraft career USS Cole in Gulf of Aden on 2000 and 9/11
incidents was the landmark in geo-strategic shifting. These incidents forced to US to
re-engage in the Southeast Asia region due to opening of second front to fight
against terrorism. There are number of examples existed, which indicates unholy
nexus of Pirates and terrorist Organizations. In addition, Piracy and Maritime
Terrorism have also accelerated the pace of proliferation of arms and smuggling of
narcotics in the region. Piracy and Maritime are the terrorism the both side of the
same coin. Maritime terrorism is similar to Piracy but it has a political objective to
use of Piracy as a tool to target the governments by local terrorists and rebellious
groups the Maritime Terrorism has a political, ideology, seeking attention, violence.
CSCAP defines 'Maritime Terrorism as a unilateral act of violence at the sea with
intention for political or destructive end but not those associated with war declared
under the laws of war'. Example of this includes the, Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG)
hijacking the ship on 17 November 2002 in Philippines water.
The term piracy is basically derived from the Greek terminology 'Peirates', which
have become a major threat after the end of cold war considerably. Piracy is not only
the security problem but also reflects the changing social-economical dimensions of
any region. The focus of the study is on analysing some very important aspects and
implications of the piracy in the Malacca Strait. Asia-Pacific region has experienced
a tremendous economic rise leading to the transportation of a large number of cargo
ships and containers, which is a major driving force to rise of piracy. The proposed
study attempts to understand the problem of piracy, various dimensions and explore
the regional responses, implications and efforts to the formation of effective counter-
anti-piracy policy in the Malacca Strait. However, since past few years, despite
countries like Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore have shown great commitment
towards wiping out the problem of piracy in the region, it still remains. The study has
a well-defined scope, to understand the prospects of the regional cooperation to the
attainment of the effective results against the piracy. Despite decrease in the
intensity, the problem is still there due to the lack of sufficient resource, regional
security cooperation and halfhearted interstate coordination.
The study helps to understand the how financial instability forced people to adopt
piracy as a profession. The another important area of study is that the changing
dimension of security patterns of the region offered a fertile ground to involve the
extra-regional actors like India, China, Japan, South Korea and Australia. The extra-
regional entities get involved in region for their vital interest rather than mitigating
the volatile circumstances. The study will trace the implication of these powers in
the region than in the view of the ultimate objective to harmonies the region and
creating a calm and stable environment. The study will also critically evaluate the
fruitful prospects of the interstate cooperation in this regard.
The sea routes are interconnected, that is why constantly deteriorating situation in
the Gulf of Aden, Niger Delta, Indian Ocean, Bay of Bengal, and South China Sea has
been impacting the Malacca Straits. Given that, the focus is upon the changes and
strategies that can bring stable environment for trade and commerce via Malacca
Straits. The study will analyse the integrated character of sea routes and as a pull
factor to the rise of the piracy in the Malacca Straits. The study will also attempt to
make recommendations in tackling the problem of piracy as well as helping to find
out about newly emerging trends and challenges to counter effectively.

Table 1
Location of Actual or Attempted Attacks of Piracy in Southeast Asia
Locations 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013
Indonesia 15 40 46 81 106
Malacca Strait 2 2 1 2 1
Myanmar 1 1 3
Philippines 1 5 5 3 3
Singapore Straits 9 3 11 6 9
Malaysia 16 18 16 9 9
Thailand 2 2
Source: ICC Commercial Crime Services

Between 1990 and 1996, piracy emerged as a widespread phenomenon in Southeast

Asia, particularly in the Malacca Strait. In April 1992, a Cyprus based fuel tanker,
Valliant Carrier, was the first victim of piracy. Piracy is closely associated with the
economic and geographical constraints of the Malacca Strait, where the complex
topography of the littoral states, provided a fertile ground for the rise of piracy. In
addition, most of the piracy incident has shifted away from the Malacca Strait
towards the South China Sea, Hong Kong and Macau, and extended zone which is
bounded by Hong Kong, Luzon and the Hainan Island, and the so-called HLH 'terror
triangle. A total of 122 attack represents 51.7 percent of all attacks took place in
this triangle.
There was a marked increase in the number of piracy cases after the Asian financial
crisis of 1997. The crisis was responsible for the widespread economic slump in
Southeast Asia and deterioration of social conditions leading to the rise of large
scale poverty. It considerably affected the life of the common people, which led to a
visible spurt in act of piracy for their livelihood. On the other hand, Indonesia's
failure to take any serious step for ensuring social security and countering the piracy
has complicated the issue. For instance, in 2005, the highest number of piracy came
up to 122 incidents. One of the most serious incidents was the hijacking of the
Panama tanker. In the past the vessel Fu Tai and the cargo ship Tenyu, was hijacked
on 5 August and 27 September of 1998 respectively, which had serious security
implications.
Malaysia is another most important country bordering the Malacca Strait. It has a
vast maritime boundary more than 1,500 miles from the northern end of the Malacca
Strait to the southern Philippines border. Malaysian waters are also a piracy-prone
zone. As a huge number of commercial vessels enter from the Philippine side, the
pirates endanger their security and safety. Malaysia has formed a Royal Malaysian
Marine Police (RMMP) to deal more proficient with the threat of the piracy and other
maritime problems such as terrorism.
Singapore, which is economically most vibrant country bordering the Malacca Strait,
has been grappling with the two fold problems in the form of piracy and maritime
terrorism. The possibility of the unholy nexus between the two threats has affected
the security of Singapore. Singapore has a strategy to deal with the problem of
piracy through strong cooperation with foreign actors to enhance its own
capabilities. Singapore has repeatedly emphasised that the primary responsibility for
maritime security risks extensively with the Indian Ocean littoral states.
Against this backdrop, the involvement of other powers like India which is a major
Indian Ocean power will become central in the order for an effective response to this
growing challenge in the dynamism of the Malacca Strait. India has a vital security
and economic interest in the region to involve actions of the security of sea lane of
communication (SLOC). Over 40% of India's imports come through the Strait of
Malacca. Indian Navy, for instance, has carried out many joint anti-piracy exercises
with Singapore, Indonesia and Thailand. In order to secure hurdle free transportation
of cargo vessels, India uses its Far Eastern Command in the Andaman and Nicobar
Islands to pre-empt a shipping threat. On June 30, 2012, India opened a key naval
station, named the 'INS Baaz', aimed at enhancing the country's ability to monitor
the choke point and also extending its strategic reach in the region.
Despite the volatile situation since last decade, countries bordering to Malacca
Strait have shown remarkable resistance to prevent this problem throw joint
cooperation and the total number of attacks tremendously decreased in 2011 and
2012.
In order to eliminate piracy in the region, 'The Regional Cooperation Agreement on
Combating Piracy and Armed Robbery against ships in Asia' ReCAAP, was signed in
November 2004 by 17 countries (Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, China, Denmark,
India, Japan, Republic of Korea, Laos, Myanmar, Netherlands, Norway, Philippines,
Singapore, the Sri Lanka, Thailand, United Kingdom and Vietnam) and a ReCAAP
Information Sharing Centre (ISC) facilitating sharing of piracy-related information has
been set up. It is a major achievement of successful regional cooperation. Some
important steps have been taken up to protect the pirate infested coastline and
prevent the crisis. In this regard, for instance, Indonesia launched a 'Trilateral
Coordinated Patrol' with Malaysia and Singapore in mid-2004. Indonesia has also
undertaken several serious steps along with Malaysia, having deployed two warships
as a joint patrol to target pirated attacks in 2005. In addition, both countries have
also developed an "Eye in the Sky" operation with Singapore and Thailand in 2006, by
which they jointly carry out air patrols above the Strait. These initiatives have helped
Indonesia to mitigate the problem and decrease the intensity of the situation.
However, the major stumbling block is the lack of sufficient cooperation; there is in
fact need for an integrated approach, which can bring about total support in dealing
with the problem of piracy.
This study will focus on the relevance, need and the experience of anti-piracy
policies in Malacca Strait in view of the ultimate objective of achieving a stable and
a peaceful environment in the Malacca Strait. The emerging factors and
circumstances that contribute to the prevalence of piracy in the region will also be
identified and analysed. Regional response, perspectives, experiences, strategies
and policies will also be analysed to tackle the issue of piracy and highlight the
issues of regional cooperation in this study. The overall analysis of the threat of
Piracy and Maritime Terrorism in the Malacca Strait region indicates that that Piracy
is the global phenomena but has a regional implication at a large extent. The Piracy
is required a sophisticated region based strategy, which also deals the socio-
economic condition of the region particularly the affected country. It is observed
that the most of the Piracy incident took place around the failed sates, for instance,
Somalia, Ethiopian and Yemen. The nature of Piracy in the 21st century has
drastically changed and Piracy not mere a livelihood occupation for the large number
of poor people. Most of the organized criminals, gangs and even terrorist
organizations involved to use Piracy as a tool to threaten the government and
disturbed the economic activities. The long efforts of the government led to the
decline of the incident of Piracy in the Malacca Strait and the now focus is Gulf of
Aden.
Integrated nature of SLOC requires the sub-regional cooperation because to fight
against the Piracy, need to a large amount of money, weapons, machinery and
understanding.