The dispute between Indonesia's sand island and Australia, where is the sand island located?

Recently, the public has been discussing the issue of Pulau Pasir or Ashmore Reef which is called the side of the Unitary State of the Republic of Indonesia (NKRI).

The Sand Island series is mentioned as an Indonesian area by the holder of the mandate of customary rights of the citizens of the Timor Sea tradition, Ferdi Tanoni. However, the Australian faction explains that Sand Island or Ashmore Reef is a side of their country.

Responding to the talks, the Director General of International Law and Agreements of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (MFA), Laurentius Amrih Jinangkung made it clear that Pulau Pasir or Ashmore Reef does not have Indonesia, but Australia.

Amrih explained, Pasir Island has never been a side of the Dutch East Indies area, which after Indonesia became independent became the Republic of Indonesia.

The Dutch East Indies government is said to have never protested the claim or ownership of Sand Island by the British who inherited the area to Australia.

"In this framework, Indonesia has never had or may not have a claim on Pasir Island," said Amrih taken from Antara on Friday (28/10/2022).

Where is Sand Island located?

Citing australia's legal government site gak.gov.au, Sand Island or Ashmore Reef is 840km west of Darwin and 610km north of Broome.

The Ashmore and Cartier Islands area is an uninhabited area of Australia consisting of 4 lowland tropical islands on two separate reefs, and a 12-nautical-mile (22 km; 14 mi) territorial sea created by several islands.

The area is in the Indian Ocean which is on the edge of the continental shelf, about 320 km in the sea off northwest of Australia and 144 km south of the island of Rote, Indonesia.

Ashmore Reef is mentioned as Sand Island by Indonesians and Nusa Solokaek in Rotenese language. The 2 names have the meaning of "sand island".

The website explains that Indonesian fishermen visit Ashmore Reef every year under a Memorandum of Understanding signed by the Australian and Indonesian governments, which allows them to take advantage of the marine environment they have traditionally accessed for hundreds of years.

The first registered appearance of the reef in Europe was on 11 June 1811 by Samuel Ashmore, who gave the nearby Hibernia Reef the name of the ship.

Throughout the 1850s American whaling vessels worked in the area and throughout the latter half of the 9th century, phosphate mining was carried out on the West Island.

There is an Agreement Between RI and Australia

The information on Pulau Pasir is not a side of the Republic of Indonesia listed in the 1957 Juanda Proclamation which was subsequently promulgated through Law Number 4 of 1960.

In the regulation, it is called Sand Island has not entered the area or map of the Republic of Indonesia since 1957, 1960, or on maps made after that time.

Meanwhile, to accommodate the needs of residents, traditional fishermen from East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) are allowed to catch fish around the waters of Pasir Island and a series of other islands around it.

The decree was signed through an MoU between Indonesia and Australia in 1974. Furthermore, this memorandum of agreement was reinstated through agreements in 1981 and 1989.

"So the agreement gives traditional fishermen the opportunity to exercise their traditional rights in those waters," said Amrih.

Sand Island Dispute Order

The dispute over Pulau Pasir became a concern after residents of the Timor Sea tradition threatened to bring a claim for Australian ownership of Pulau Pasir to the Australian Commonwealth Court in Canberra.

"If Australia does not want to leave the Sand Island chain, we will inevitably take the case regarding the rights of our indigenous people to the Australian Commonwealth Court in Canberra," said Timor Sea Tradition Citizen Customary Rights Trustee Ferdi Tanoni.

The terror was spurred by Australia's memorable attitude of not being indifferent when it was forced to leave the Sand Island series.

"Although in fact, the territory is absolutely owned by the traditions of Timor, Rote, and Alor," said Ferdi. Regarding the idea of the charges, Director General Amrih asked residents of the Timor Sea tradition to first re-examine what is possible for Australian courts to accommodate claims from foreign nationals, based on Australian law.

"This is beyond the rumours of sovereignty or ownership because obviously (Sand Island) has who. But if there are Indonesian citizens who want to exercise one right that may or may not be allowed, we do not yet know under Australian law," he said.