The right of hot pursuit

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Najib (right) and Duterte have a discussion in Putrajaya during the latter’s recent visit. — File photo

Najib (right) and Duterte have a discussion in Putrajaya during the latter’s recent visit. — File photo

ANY visit by the Prime Minister of Malaysia to Sabah or Sarawak has always been treated as an important occasion.

I have lost count of the number of visits made by Datuk Seri Najib to the Borneo states since he assumed the premiership. I’m not complaining; he is always welcome. But none of them was as significant as the one that he made recently to Sabah.

Out of this particular visit, three decisions are worth talking about – one, 7,000 refugees would be sent back to the Philippines; two, the PM is prepared to talk about the Malaysia Agreement 1963; and third, the announcement that President Rodrigo Duterte would allow Malaysian ships to cross the sea border between the two countries, if necessary, in pursuit of armed abductors if they snatch tourists, sailors or fishermen for ransom.

I have written about MA63 and related matters in the past, so I would rather skip discussing the subject this time around. It’s taboo for even for the opposition to touch!

Today, let’s ponder over a couple of questions with reference to the security problem in eastern Sabah.

When do we expect to see the end to abductions for ransom in the Sulu Sea?

A six-million-dollar question – awaiting an urgent answer!

Who is prepared to lose a lucrative business worth millions of ringgit and billions of pesos?

Certainly not the 23 armed men who have been identified by the Malaysian authorities as members of a terror group, and most definitely not their agents
in Sabah, who are living among the population and therefore not that easy to identify. They will put up a good fight before they either surrender or die but they will not give up their trade hands down.

A recent development on the diplomatic front may spell trouble for their nefarious activities. That is, if Duterte is serious about fulfilling his promise last week to our Prime Minister. The former had promised the latter that the Malaysian security forces would be allowed to cross the sea border, if necessary, in hot pursuit of suspected kidnappers on the high seas.

Knowing Duterte, there will be a fight between two countries against one terrorist group. The winner should be the bigger and more powerful.

If it is true that the Indonesian maritime forces would also be allowed to enter Philippines waters for the purpose of rescuing their nationals abducted by the armed men, then there will be a battle between three against one.

In their own interests, the Indonesians should join the Malaysian and the Philippines security forces to subdue the pirates. A number of their people have been abducted by the armed groups such as Abu Sayyaf or related groups, though none has been beheaded for non-payment of ransom.

Their nationals form a sizeable fishing community in the east of Sabah. If they refuse to go out to sea for fear of being kidnapped by the sea bandits, the Sabah fishing industry will be in trouble. That’s why the Indonesian President has agreed to join hands with Malaysia and Philippines to adopt the policy of hot pursuit.

If implemented properly, this strategy would have the effect of reducing the frequency of high sea robbery. At least, it would not be as easy for the armed men to simply snatch sailors from a boat or whisk away tourists from island resorts, speed up across the border and hide in Jolo or Basilan. Then the captors allow their prey to call home, to talk to relatives asking if they would be kind enough to remit money with which to reimburse the boarding fee incurred by their captives. The cheek of them! If their loved ones would like to see them alive, pay now, through their agents in Sabah or Mindanao.

The boarding fee can run as high as a few million ringgit converted, before delivery, into pesos of equivalent amount according to the current rate of exchange for each captive.

Duterte’s recent visit has indeed held great promise for the safe passage of the Sulu Sea eventually. Details of the strategy must be being kept secret to be effective. We shall wait for the implementation of the three-country joint policy of hot pursuit.

We hope and pray that time will come soon that all tourists, Malaysians, Indonesians and others will enjoy freedom to carry out trade and fishing on the Sulu Sea.

This will help Esscom (Eastern Sabah Security Command) to do its job effectively.

And thinking aloud, we hope Esscom will also look into the smuggling of drugs by taking advantage of the policy of President Duterte. You know how he operates against the drug lords in his country. He is a brave man; we need brave men for a difficult job.

Cross border crime

When you read about cross border crime have you not wondered that drug smuggling might be one of them? As the Philippines is nearest to Sabah and Sabah is nearest to Sarawak, has it occurred to you that illegal drugs are being smuggled from the Philippines to Sabah and from Sabah to Sarawak?

Remember reading about the school teacher in Lawas who was allegedly peddling a kind of drug. Isn’t it possible that the illegal drug has been smuggled to Lawas from Sabah, putting it another way.

All this speculation makes sense if what we are hearing about President Duterte’s purge of drug lords in the Philippines is true.

Mull over this possibility, will you?

While we are intensifying our campaign to reduce or eliminate the human abductions for ransom, we must also be in a position to curb drug smuggling into Sabah and Sarawak. Drug taking among our people is not new. It has been there for a long time.

I used to live at Mile 6 Penrissen Road. Opposite was a camp called Pusa Serenti. At this Pusat (centre) drug addicts were being treated or rehabilitated. I say ‘were’ because the last time I was in vicinity in the company of Kiwi golfers, I did not see any inmates. In fact, the whole area was overgrown with creepers and secondary bush. The buildings or what is left of the Pusat are beyond rehabilitation.

Seldom do we hear about Pemadam these days. Does it mean that illegal drugs are no longer a menace in Malaysia? That would be good news indeed but news about warning young women from becoming mules has me really confused.

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