NGOs Urge Howard to Play Fair in Boundary Talks with East Timor
100 Groups Worldwide Call for Respect for Timor’s Sovereignty & Resources
November 7, 2003 - A global coalition of non-governmental organizations today wrote Prime Minister John Howard of
Australia urging his government to set a firm timetable for establishing a permanent maritime boundary between East
Timor and Australia in upcoming negotiations.
“Throughout these negotiations, East Timor should be treated fairly and as a sovereign nation, with the same rights as
Australia,” the letter says.
The letter, signed by representatives of 100 NGOs from 18 countries, was sent as the governments of Australia and East
Timor prepare to begin preliminary talks on the maritime boundary on November 10. The Howard government has thus far
declined to accept a timetable or an end date for resolving the issue, despite repeated requests from the government of
East Timor.
“At stake in these negotiations are East Timor's rights as an independent nation to establish national boundaries and to
benefit from its own resources. This is indeed a test of Australia’s respect for East Timor’s right to genuine
self-determination,” said John M. Miller of the East Timor Action Network, which coordinated the letter. “The world will
judge Australia based on whether it tries to bully East Timor or treats it fairly and as a sovereign equal in these
negotiations.”
The letter states that under current international legal principles, “the median line (half way between the coastlines
of two countries) is the standard way to establish maritime exclusive economic zone (EEZ) boundaries when two countries
are closer than 400 nautical miles to each other. If this international principle were applied, many of the oil and gas
fields lying outside the Joint Petroleum Development Area [JPDA] but north of the median line would fall within East
Timor's EEZ….”
Recognition of East Timor's right to these resources could mean as much as $30 billion in revenue over three decades for
East Timor, the poorest country in Asia.
The letter says, “We have been troubled by your government's callous disregard for East Timor's sovereignty and rights,
which seems contrary to the deep concern for East Timor expressed by so many Australians.” It warns that Australia
“risks squandering the international goodwill Australia established since 1999," and that “Australia's own long-term
national interests are best served by a stable and prosperous East Timor....”
“Without public pressure, Australia profits by waiting out the exhaustion of oil and natural gas resources before
agreeing to a boundary, taking revenue rightfully belonging to East Timor. This is revenue that can help East Timor
become independent of foreign donors and escape from dire poverty as Southeast Asia’s poorest country,” said Miller.
Several ‘interim’ resource-sharing agreements have been signed between Australia and East Timor. These agreements are
derived from the illegal 1989 Timor Gap Treaty between Australia and Indonesia, which heavily favored Australia. Under
these interim agreements, the largest amounts of what should be East Timor’s petroleum resources are excluded from the
JPDA. These include the bulk of the Greater Sunrise field and the nearly-depleted Laminaria-Corallina field. Together
they contain more petroleum than the Bayu Undan field, which is within the JPDA. Australia has taken possession of these
resources outside the JPDA, although both countries claim them, and they would belong to East Timor under current
international principles. Once a permanent boundary is established these agreements would have to be renegotiated.
See http://www.etan.org/action/iss ues/tsea.htm for the text of the letter and a complete list of signers.
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etanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetanetan John M. Miller Internet: fbp@igc.org
Media & Outreach Coordinator East Timor Action Network: 12 Years for Self-Determination & Justice
48 Duffield St., Brooklyn, NY 11201 USA Phone: (718)596-7668 Fax: (718)222-4097 Mobile phone: (917)690-4391 Web site:
http://www.etan.org
Support ETAN, make a secure financial contribution: http://etan.org/etan/donate.htm
Send a blank e-mail message to info@etan.org to find out how to learn more about East Timor on the Internet
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