Malaysia to launch royal inquiry into cases involving disputed Singapore Strait islets

The government said a panel would be set up to carry out ‘a transparent, fair and equal investigation’
Malaysia has long sought to revive its claim on Pedra Branca, one of the islets, after the ICJ ruled that Singapore had sovereignty over the outcrop

Malaysia

Reuters

Published: 4:04pm, 24 Jan 2024

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Malaysia will set up a royal commission of inquiry to study the handling of cases involving three disputed islets in the Singapore Strait, the cabinet said on Wednesday.

Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim has previously called for a review of a 2018 decision by Malaysia – under the administration of then premier Mahathir Mohamad – to drop its application to revise an International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruling that Singapore had sovereignty over Pedra Branca, one of the islets.

In a 2008 ruling, the ICJ awarded the Middle Rocks formation to Malaysia while nearby Pedra Branca, which Malaysia calls Pulau Batu Puteh, was given to Singapore.

Malaysia in 2017 sought to have the Pedra Branca part of the ruling overturned, but dropped its claim a year later after Mahathir became prime minister.

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Chief secretary to the government Mohd Zuki Ali said on Tuesday recommendations for the composition of the inquiry panel will be brought to Malaysia’s king for approval.

“The recommendations … will take into account experts with wide experience in judicial, legal, and public administration matters who can carry out a transparent, fair and equal investigation,” Mohd Zuki said in a statement.

The chain of rocky outcrops is located about 7.7 nautical miles (14km) off the coast of southern Malaysia and 24 nautical miles (44km) off the east coast of Singapore.

In its decision on Pedra Branca, the ICJ said although Malaysia’s ancient Sultanate of Johor had original ownership over the island, the government has failed to respond to the conduct of Singapore when the city state asserted its sovereignty over the tiny outcrop such as when it installed military communication equipment on it in 1977.

By the time the dispute emerged in the 1980s after Malaysia published a map claiming Pedra Branca belonged to it, “sovereignty … had passed to Singapore”, the ICJ said in its judgment.

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The island is of strategic importance to Singapore which operates one of the world’s busiest ports because it is situated at the eastern entrance of the Straits of Singapore, which is joined to the Malacca Strait, one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes.

Kuala Lumpur maintained these documents showed that “officials at the highest levels in the British colonial and Singaporean administration appreciated that Pedra Branca/Pulau Batu Puteh did not form part of Singapore’s sovereign territory,” the ICJ said.

Additional reporting by Agence France-Presse, Kyodo

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