VIEWS FROM ASIA Transborder Traffic in

then proceed to General Santos. Another is the Talaud route, in which Southeast Asia people go from Manado to Talaud, where they obtain fuel and food, com- By Shiraishi Takashi plete the paperwork for immigration and customs and then proceed to Davao TRANSBORDER traffic in Southeast is an organization whose members were City. The more institutionalized Asia, above all in the , largely responsible for the Makassar Bitung-Davao and the Bitung-General between the northern part of bombing in 2002. From Bitung, he Santos routes are important for cargo- ’s and in went to Davao. In late 1997, Suryadi ship traffic. Trade links by these routes the southern , has attracted and his friends returned from General take advantage of the volatility of much attention recently. This is in part Santos to Indonesia. They were arrested exchange rates to generate profit. For because of the discovery of a regional at a port in the Sangihe-Talaud archipel- example when the Indonesian rupiah fell network of Indonesia’s most prominent ago for carrying bomb detonators. to the level of Rp. 10,000 to 15,000 radical Islamic group, Jemaah Islamiyah They, however, managed to “make an against one US dollar in the crisis of (JI). The JI maintained its military arrangement with the police,” and 1998, cross-border trade boomed. training camp in Mindanao, in a remote reached Peta the next day where they Many Filipino traders came to Bitung corner of the Abu Bakar complex from met Sardjono and continued to and Manado to buy goods to sell in the 1996 to 2000 in an arrangement with Manado. Philippines, ranging detergents and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front On his return, Suryadi was asked by tooth-paste to automobile tires, pottery T(MILF). The recruits included members Wahdah Islamiyah leaders to take over and furniture. As the rupiah strength- of the JI and of like-minded jihadist Kahar’s position as a “courier.” Suryadi ened and stabilized, however, traffic organizations. There were (and perhaps agreed in part because he had started a between Manado and Bitung and Davao still are) a great deal of transborder business to buy cosmetics in the and General Santos declined. movements of JI activists, disguised as Philippines to sell them in Sulawesi. There are also people who cross bor- traders, who regularly travel cross bor- During his trips, he also bought ders illegally to avoid immigration and ders between Indonesia and the weapons with help of an Indonesian customs. This is possible because these Philippines. “who was married to a Filipina, lived in illegal border-crossers are familiar with A report* by the International Crisis General Santos, and was apparently a the routes and schedules of maritime Group (ICG) describes some of the JI frequent visitor to Camp Abu Bakar.” patrols which are, in any case, rarely activists’ movements between northern In 2000, Suryadi boarded a ship in conducted. Illegal routes are a lot Sulawesi and Mindanao. One of the General Santos for Bitung with “a car- shorter than the legal ones. For routes important recruiters for Mindanao train- ton marked ‘tuna fish,’ bribed using the cluster of the Sangihe ing was Utomo Pamungkas or Philippine customs agents, and success- as a traffic lane, the port of Peta remains Mubarok, who was trained in fully entered Indonesia.” From there he the port of departure. Illegal border- Afghanistan and worked as the head of continued on to Makassar, where he crossers go directly from Peta to JI’s Manado (Menado) branch. He delivered the arms to Wahdah General Santos City without stopping engaged in arms smuggling operations Islamiyah. over at ports for immigration and cus- in 1999-2001 to bring weapons from The ICG concluded its report by argu- toms paperworks. These illegal border- Mindanao to Manado with the help of ing that its account illustrates “the crossers normally use passenger motor Sardjono Gabriel, a fisherman from the importance of traditional border cross- boats called Pamboats, many of which small port of Peta on Sangihe . ing locations for the JI” and “of ensuring are owned and produced in Sangihe and Mubarok helped him purchase a boat in that the police and immigration officials Talaud. There are two types of them. 1997, which became the main means for assigned to these areas are both vigilant The first type, used by fishermen, is recruiting members from Java across to and incorruptible.” It is important to smaller, with a passenger capacity of 8- Mindanao and bringing arms back. note that the above flows and move- 10 people carrying their loads. This Suryadi, another JI activist, who ments of recruits and weapons between vessel is what people usually refer to as a became involved with the jihadist orga- Indonesia and the Philippines take Pamboat. The second type of pamboat, nization Wahdah Islamiyah in the early advantage of existing routes and net- the Fuso, is named after a Japanese 1990s, went to Camp Abu Bakar in works in the transborder traffic zone. brand of diesel truck engine and can 1997. He left for Bitung, accompanied There are several border-crossing carry 10 tons. by a man called Kahar Mustafa, a couri- routes between Mindanao and Manado. Although we cannot fully rely on er who took the JI recruits back and One is the Sangihe route, in which peo- trade statistics to understand what kinds forth to Mindanao. Wahdah Islamiyah ple go from Manado to the port of Peta, of goods are traded in this traffic zone, if

*Note : “Jemaah Islamiyah in South East Asia: Damaged, but Still Dangerous.” 26 Aug. 2003.

34 JAPAN SPOTLIGHT • September / October 2005 VIEWS FROM ASIA

the trade statistics do serve as indicators, mates that there are 7,500 people from extra levy, but because the procedures two observations can be made. One is Sangihe and Talaud currently residing in set by the state are complicated and can that traded goods are mostly for daily the Philippines, while the Philippine be circumvented if officials are bribed. use, such as detergents, seasonings, Commissioner of Immigration estimates The discussion above should serve to clothes and sandals. Another is that that there are 12,000 to 15,000 such clarify the fact that state-defined legality companies operating in this zone are people. and illegality do not exhaust the full predominantly fishery firms. From As far as border security is concerned, range and significance of people’s Manado to the Philippines, goods that on the Indonesian side, officials at the actions in this gray area. The enjoy brisk sales and generate good prof- border traffic post consist of personnel Indonesian and Philippine states and its include different brands of detergent from the navy, police, customs and their agents insert themselves into – and (whether in powder, liquid or cake immigration. These officials, however, tap – the flows of goods and peoples for form), leather sandals and seasonings. do not have any authority to allow bor- their own purposes. Local people who From Sangihe and Talaud, the goods der crossers to carry goods exceeding live within and across the border have include agricultural and forest products, US$250 in value. Because traders nor- long adapted their lives and activities especially copra or coconut kernels mally exceed the maximum allowance, either in accommodation or resistance to which attract good prices in the officials impose extra levies, which in this reality, or else in evasion or circum- Philippine market. From the practice are subject to negotiation. On vention of it. The most basic fact of life Philippines come paintings in different the Philippine side, it is the customs and in this area is that border-crossers, shapes and sizes, mini-aquariums, vari- coast guard who deal with both legal whether legal or illegal, have to go ous sandals (particularly plastic ones), and illegal border-crossers such imports through, and often bribe, state officials. umbrellas, perfume, pottery, kitchen at General Santos and Davao. It is precisely the porosity of these bor- utensils, plates, ceramic bowls and toys. The illegally brought goods are con- ders, and the ambiguous distinction of People cross borders mainly for trade, siderably larger in the volume than legal legality and illegality that enabled but there are residents of Sangihe and flows. Illegal border-crossers also deal in groups such as the JI to create networks Talaud who work in the Philippines for hard liquors and firearms, which are of their own by tapping existing trade five to six days a week and go back home obtained at the Philippine black market, channels. CAMBODIA for the weekend. Traders stay one weekVIETNAMespecially from agents of Filipino land- Phnum Pénh PHILIPPINES to a month when they visit the lords and the Communist New People’s Shiraishi Takashi is a professor at GRIPS, Philippines. There are also people from Army. Almost all the traders choose ille- the National Graduate Institute for Policy Sangihe and Talaud who have lived in gal sea lanes not just because the goods Studies. He specializes in Asian studies and Mindanao the Philippines for generations. The they carry exceed the limits set by the international relations. Indonesian Consulate in Davao esti- state and they do not want to pay the Davao BRUNEI General Santos DARUSSALAM Bandar Seri Begawan Kuala Lumpur MALAYSIA JAPAN SPOTLIGHT • September / October 2005 35 SINGAPORE Manado

Sulawesi

Jakarta INDONESIA