Indonesia urges action as high-seas kidnappings surge

JAKARTA, Indonesia – Indonesia called Monday, July 11, on Malaysia and the Philippines to do more to secure their “unsafe” waters after the weekend abduction of sailors by suspected Islamist militants.

Armed men in a speedboat kidnapped the 3 sailors late Saturday, July 9, from a Malaysian-flagged trawler in Malaysian waters off Borneo island and took them towards the strife-torn southern Philippines, officials said.

The kidnappers were apparently targeting Indonesian citizens, as 3 Malaysian sailors and an Indonesian who concealed his nationality were released from the same vessel, the military said.

It takes to 24 the number of Indonesians kidnapped this year in the vital waterway between the 3 countries, with Philippine terror group Abu Sayyaf accused of being behind all the abductions.

“This kind of incident cannot be tolerated at all,” said Indonesian Foreign Minister Retno Marsudi.

“Serious efforts, I repeat, serious efforts, must be taken immediately both by the Philippine and Malaysian governments.”

“This goes to show that the waters of Malaysia and the Philippines are unsafe,” added Indonesian armed forces chief Gatot Nurmantyo.

Separately, the Philippine military said the Abu Sayyaf, which has earned millions of dollars from kidnappings-for-ransom, was behind the latest outrage.

The 3 new captives would add to the 7 Indonesians and two Europeans already being held by the group, said Philippine military spokesman Major Filemon Tan.

In May, Indonesia, Malaysia, and the Philippines agreed to launch a coordinated patrol of the waters after the recent surge of kidnappings. Nurmantyo said that defense ministers from the 3 countries were due to meet in Kuala Lumpur on Tuesday, July 12, to further discuss the plan.

Of the Indonesians abducted this year, 14 were released after being held in the Abu Sayyaf’s stronghold in the southern Philippines but there was no information on whether a ransom was paid.

A further 7 were kidnapped in the area last month, after which Jakarta banned Indonesian-flagged vessels from sailing to the Philippines.

A handful of Malaysian sailors have also been kidnapped this year.

The Abu Sayyaf, who are based on remote and mountainous southern islands, this year beheaded two Canadian hostages after their multimillion-dollar ransom demands were not met, and in 2015 executed a Malaysian hostage.

The group is a loose network of a few hundred Islamist militants, formed in the 1990s with seed money from Osama bin Laden’s Al-Qaeda network. – Rappler.com