I. Introduction
Southeast Asia the trade contacts: in the mainland and in the maritime areas. Compared to trade contacts on the Southeast Asian mainland, trade contacts in the Southeast Asian
maritime areas are more dynamic and more open because the Southeast Asian maritime area has a significant role in terms of social, economic, and cultural
systems in the region Lamijo in Ardhana, 2009: 234. Inter-relationship in all aspects in the Southeast Asian maritime regions are growing faster than on the
Southeast Asian mainland. Some researches in the mainland areas, indicate that societies
living on
Southeast Asian
mainland are
more isolated
and underdeveloped.
Malaysia and the Philippines are choosen since these countries have similarities in terms of geographical and demographical aspects such as in the same climate, ethnicity,
and cultural tradition, even though in some aspects like dominant religions they are actually different. Malaysia and the Philippines are multicultural societies. The
societies have their social, cultural, economic and political dynamics since a long time. In one hand, they can live in harmony, but on the other hand they have
certain conflicts as well, particularly on the border issues. Amer 2000: 44 notes that there is a certain pattern in managing border disputes amongst the Southeast
Asian members. Therefore, to bring such disputes to the ICJ International Court of Justice we can see a shortcoming of the ASEAN framework especially in
takling the conflict management.
Kudat is choose in this paper due to that the place is commonly used for the illegal movements from the Philippines. Mindanao is the second largest and easternmost island in the
Philippines. It is also one of the three island groups in the country, along with Luzon and Visayas. Population: 83.140 2010
II. Main Questions
1. What kinds of problems emerge in the border areas?
2. How do the two countries manage their border problems?
3. What can we learn from the both two countries experiences in managing their
border policies?
Daud Amatzin 2004: 2 notes there are some statements mentioned below are some common cries describing the degree
of the problem as follows:
“the labor shortage in Malaysia is becoming a serious threat to the ….development of the nation’s economy The Planter, Kuala
Lumpur1980.
“the single most pressing issue facing the plantation industry is shortage of labor ISIS Conference, Kuala Lumpur, 1992.
“the biggest issue facing the oil palm industry today is the shortage of workers” ISP International Planters Conference,
Kuala Lumpur, 2000.
•The Malaysia and Philippines border is a maritime boundary located in the South China, Sulu and Celebes Seas. It separates the Malaysian state of
Sabah, which is on the island of Borneo, and the Sulu Islands of the southern Philippines. The trade routes between two countries have been developing
since a long ago.
•The boundary is the result of the division of the Sulu Sultanate through the cession of its territories to colonial powers. The British gained control of the
northeast shores of Borneo, becoming known as North Borneo and subsequently Sabah, while the rest of the Sulu Islands fell under Spanish
control and later United States rule.
•The Philippines have still officially claimed the eastern part Sabah as part of its territory, arguing the validity of the cession by the Sultan of Sulu.
Malaysia and the Philippines are also parties that involve in the multinational claims over the Spratly Islands and both countries have
overlapping claims over some islands of the archipelago.
III. Demography
Sabah, surrounded by small islands and resided by the local people or ethnic minorities becomes a destination for them to get a better
life. It is noted that ¾ of the population in Sabah depend on agricultural sectors.
Most of the local people called the Bumi Putra including Dusun, Bajau, Murut, Rungus and Orang Sungai involve in the economic
agricultural sector which is managed in small scale industry such as rubber, oil palm plantations, paddy, and fishing.
However, for the big businessmen in the oil palm plantations most of them come from Tanah Semenanjung Malaysia. Many people
like from Banggi, Kota Marudu come to Sabah to get job in restaurants, mall or other shops in the Bandar-bandar, like Kudat
and the like.
But, the majority of the workers working in the plantations are the Filipinos and the Indonesian workers.
In certain part of Sabah there some ethnic groups such as the Dusun, the Bajau, the Bugis etc. The Dusun is the collective
name of a tribe or ethnic and linguistic group in the Malaysian state of Sabah. Due to similarities in culture and language with
the Kadazan ethnic group, and also because of other political initiatives, a new unified term called Kadazan-Dusun was
created. Collectively, they form largest ethnic group Sabah. A small minority of Dusuns can also be found in Brunei where
they are defined by the constitution to be one of the seven Bumiputera groups. The ethnic group, makes up, at one time,
30 of Sabah population and are broken down into more than 30 sub-ethnic, or dialectical groups, or tribes each speaking a
slightly different dialect of the Dusunic family language. They are mostly mutually understandable. The Dusun traded with the
coastal people by bringing their agricultural produce to exchange for salt, salted fish, and other products. The name
Dusun was popularized by the British colonial masters who borrowed the term from the Brunei Malay
s.
Beside the Filipinos there were many the Chinese, having business activities in Kudat. As already mentioned earlier that as Yap Pak Leong 2004: 35 notes that
the first Mindanao workers arrive in North Borneo as Sabah was then called were the Chinese from Kwangdong, China in about 1882. These
were able- bodied Hakka men and women, mostly Christians who were recruited to work in
rubber plantations and construction. By 1949 the Chinese plantation workers formed about 25 of the population of
North Borneo. In 1950 immigrants from China was stopped by the British after the communist government was established in China. It is even the Chinese have
a unity organization for the “Kaum Muda Kudat” in Kudat city. Most of the Filipinos in Sabah are the fishers. They collaborate with the Sabahans
on the fish trade activities. The Sabahans are the people including many fishers from Kota Marundu, Kudat, Banggi and other coastal villages. Fishing is the most
important industry since the Sulu Sea is one of the richest fishing grounds in the country. The province also have a extensive pearl industry. Pearls are extensively
gathered and a pearl farm is established at Marungas Island. The backs of sea turtles are made into beautiful trays and combs. During breaks from fishing, the
people build boats and weave mats. Other industries include coffee processing and fruit preservation.
•There are some significant influences due its location in the South China Sea and also in the Pasific region. It is mostly that countries in Southeast Asia are trying to improve the border
trade to become the free zone trade as already happened between Malaysia and Singapore such as between Johor Bahru and Woodlands.
•The border trade gives some impacts on the trade and economic development, in which this situation cause the emergence of illegal trade, illegal movement of people and goods and the
like. The unbalanced development between two ore more countries could be one factor on this issue. Though there are some gates or checkpoint in terms of formal gates have been
established between Malaysia and the Philippines as we can see in Kota Kinabalu, Sandakan, Tawau and in the Philippines region namely Mindanao, but there are uncertain situation in
relation to the improving figures on the illegal movements in the regions.
•Sandakan, for instance is a place for the legal movement for the Filipinos working in the region of Sabah. This place remains Sabahs second most important port, after Kota Kinabalu.
• Kota Kinabalu , formerly Jesselton, is the capital of Sabah state in Malaysia.
•The port of Sandakan is important for palm oil. Palm oil is an edible Vegetable fats and oils derived from the fruit of the Arecaceae Elaeis oil palm. Previously the second-most widely
produced edible oil, after soybean oil, 28 million tonnes were produced worldwide in 2004, tobacco
•
Illegal immigration refers to immigration across national borders in a way that violates the immigration laws of the destination country. In
politics, the term may imply a larger set of social issues and time constraints with disputed consequences in areas such as economy, social
welfare, education, health care, slavery, prostitution, in the town centre. In January 2003
The Sandakan Harbour Square, an urban renewal Sandakan project, was launched in an attempt to revive the town centre as the commercial hub
in Sandakan. Mindanao, was historically also known as Gran Molucas or Great
Mollucas. The region is named after the Maguindanaons who constituted the largest Sultanate historically. Based on some e evidences
from maps made during the 17th and 18th centuries it suggest taht the name was used to refer to the island by natives at the time. Meanwhile
the evidence of human occupation dates back tens of thousands of years. It is noted that in prehistoric times the Negrito people arrived in there
and sometime around 1500 BC Austronesian peoples spread throughout the Philippines and far beyond.
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