The Celebes Sea, commonly known as the Sulu-Celebes, is a large marine ecosystem bordering Indonesia and the Philippines. The marine ecosystems contain two oceanic basins; the Sulus Sea and the Celebes Sulawesi Sea. The Sulu-Celebes Sea is not only famous as a center of commerce, sea trade, and lanes of communication, but it is also a renowned location for maritime violence and maritime threats affecting human security and state sovereignty. While the sea harnesses growth, a threat to human security encompassing the aspects of the environment, health, safety, population, food security, and crime remains central to the population's growth. Sadly, the region's current security policies remain state-centric, potentially undervaluing the importance of human security in development and growth. Human security, unlike the traditional security of protection from aggression, involves the protection of individuals. Human security remains significant in the Celebes' growth, and any threats to it should be resolved amicably by the sovereign states.
Human Security Issues in the Celebes Sea
Environmental Issues
Pollution from existing supplies near the sea has grossly impacted the human environment. According to Sahrasyad et al. (2018), the primary pollution sources include sewage, agriculture, industrial wastes, aquaculture, and shipping. Pollution has resulted in eutrophication in the states' enclosed bays, including the Batangas Bay, Mindanao, and the Visaya Island that host large populations. Additionally, the urban centers' populations rely on the vast economic activities near the sea for income. Chemical inputs from the pollutants have resulted in fish kills, water pollutions, and dangerous chemical loads to aquaculture activities which the populations depend on. Water pollution is likely to affect the health of the people. Thus, pollution poses an environmental threat to human survival in the areas bordering the Celebes Sea.
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The ocean activities have resulted in significant efforts to modify stream flows that have affected human activities. Unfortunately, this has impacted neighboring urban areas hosting many households. The areas affected include the Mindanao, Visayan, and Northeast Borneo. While these urban centers offer residents the ideal locations for business, destructive land use, loss of original land cover resulting in extreme flows from the sea, and human activities to contain them have affected the economic human activities for survival.
Changes in the water table in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Malaysia are threatening human and plant life. Sadly this condition would have adverse effects in the coming years. Sahrasyad et al. (2018) report that wells have deepened, while in other areas, they reported saline intrusion elements that positively and negatively affect human occupation. If these extend, with continued saline intrusions, then the Philippines and Indonesia's agricultural areas would become wholly aquacultures based. These elements may affect food security for the population.
Crime, Illicit Drugs, and Terrorism
Piracy, maritime crimes, and armed robbery have been named the most prevalent criminal activities in the Celebes Sea, threatening human life. Daxecker & Frécon (2020) opined that the existence of weak rules of law and poor coastal welfare increased illicit maritime activities. Additionally, Singh (2019) revealed that kidnapping for ransom is common in the sea to raise funds for terrorism. Sigh gives an example of the abduction of the Hyrons, a British-Filipino couple in 2016 which heightened other kidnapping crimes in the area; He recounts that activities including hijacking, maritime robbery, and smuggling became common in the Celebes since the 1990s, and efforts to contain have not been successful. When the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG) became notorious for kidnapping for ransom operations, they intensified to piracy, then conducting the deadliest bombing of Super Ferry 14 (Singh 2019). Thus, the rising crimes against humanity in the sea and areas nearby are causing fear and uncertainty of human security in the area.
The Celebes Sea has also been identified as a hot spot for piracy. This revelation has become a risk to major ship-owners who have resorted to avoiding any activities in the sea. According to Daxecker & Frécon (2020), between March 2016 to March 2017, a report on the abducting of Crew from Ships in the Sulu-Celebes Sea showed that at least fifty-eight crew members had been abducted. Seafarers were also reported to be vulnerable to kidnapping, which informs of the unsafe working environment. Kidnapping and piracy are also a threat to regional trade and prosperity, which directly impacts the population. Terrorism in the sea involves loss of cargo and damages, which affect merchandisers and other traders in the sea.
Trafficking in persons and illicit substances has also threatened the safety of populations in the Celebes Sea. According to Le (2017), maritime crimes of drug trafficking had increased in the Celebes as criminals exploited jurisdiction and enforcement challenges in the two states that gave them quick move-in undertaking their activities. Trafficking of children had also risen in 2016, which posed a direct danger to most families' children and lives. Illicit trafficking remains prevalent even when organizations stand to cut such activities; the locals have been recruited in the illegal trafficking and have contributed to the rising numbers. Moreover, terrorists and crime rings use the sea as a transit area for drug trafficking and hostage release, which remains unsafe for the population.
Social Issues
The Celebes Sea attracts people of diverse religions who have contributed to the populations' unsafe living conditions. Since the 1990s the sea has had Islamic extremist groups and other insurgent groups. Le (2017) noted that the great number of terrorist groups were bred from the Islamic extremist groups, including Jemaah Islamiyah and the Abu Sayyaf. The existence of these groups have threatened lives of other individuals because of their religion in the area. There were also religious confrontations between the Christian government and the Moro Islamic Liberation Front in Mindanao which resulted in conflicts and continued treats to individuals without alignment to either of the two groups’ religious ideologies (Ambo-Rappe & Moore 2019). These conflicts have made the aspect of peacebuilding in the area challenging.
Potential Solutions to the Issues
The cooperation of sovereign states and the coastal welfare groups will help curb the increasing incidences of piracy, terrorism, and kidnapping at the Celebes Sea. Le (2017) supported the International Laws that stipulated that countries were obliged to cooperate in suppressing maritime crimes. In the same Claus, coastal countries are mandated to arrest pirates and other criminals in the sea. In the wake of weak laws in the Celebes that have given criminals an easy time, it is crucial that the three states device grass root efforts of dealing with the criminals and create multilateral and international cooperation in dealing with them. McCabe (2020) emphasizes the need to strengthen enforcement groups in the region by working independently, tri-laterally, and with international partners. Additionally, the coastal welfare groups should design strict rules for countering crime and avenues of crime in the sea. These rules could include arrests of criminals and pirates, confiscation of illicit drugs, boats or ships used for piracy, and rescue victims of the criminal activities. These activities will give the confidence of human protection at the Celebes Sea.
Legal and judicial measures should be instituted in the areas bordering the sea to increase compliance and legal dealing with criminals. Such efforts will also ensure that justice gets served to affected groups or individuals (McCabe 2020). States should also include technical support, training, and education to the population to enable them to gain knowledge in dealing with criminal activities, reporting, and avoidance. In particular, seafarers and ship-owners need extra guidance and education on escaping pirates.
Formal regulation on pollution would help reduce the severe effects of water pollution. Since the states operate with state-centric laws, it is vital to adopt clear and legally binding regulations with unlimited institutional capacity and accurate information on handling pollution from the industries and other sources (Alverdian et al. 2020). Human activities that remain harmful to the population should also be regulated or stopped if unnecessary. Furthermore, the states should expand and integrate the protected areas network, safeguarding habitats for fish and other marine animals (Pomeroy et al., 2019). It will also restore the productivity of the oceans in cases of degradation. While the most considerable population depends on the sea for survival and income, it is also essential to guide communities on supplemental income generation.
Overall, the Celebes Sea remains famous for both positive and negative reasons. As one of the world's largest seas, efforts to increase its sustainability and promote human security must be put in place. Based on the sea's vast activities, states need to cooperate from the regional levels to the international to increase its effectiveness. The growing human population may become inevitable in the coming years; hence the sea would be a quick relocation region. There should be sustainable measures designed and integrated with modern science to increase the productivity of the sea.
References:-
Alverdian, I., Joas, M., & Tynkkynen, N. (2020). Prospects for multi-level governance of maritime security in the Sulu-Celebes Sea: lessons from the Baltic Sea region. Australian Journal of Maritime & Ocean Affairs, 12 (2), 108-122.
Ambo-Rappe, R., & Moore, A. M. (2019). Sulawesi Seas, Indonesia. World Seas: an Environmental Evaluation , 559-581.
Daxecker, U., & Frécon, E. (2020). Maritime Piracy as Multilevel Politics: Multilevel Determinants and Responses in Indonesia. Maritime Security. Counter-Terrorism Lessons from Maritime Piracy and Narcotics Interdiction, 150 (1), 110.
Le, Q. T. (2017). A short review: The situation of piracy in the world and proposed solutions for prevention.
McCabe, R. (2020). Improving Maritime Security Sector Capacity to Counter Terrorism: Lessons from International Capacity Building Projects in the Western Indian Ocean. Maritime Security: Counter-Terrorism Lessons from Maritime Piracy and Narcotics Interdiction, 150 , 222.
Pomeroy, R. S., Garces, L. R., Pido, M. D., Parks, J. E., & Silvestre, G. (2019). The role of scale within an Ecosystem Approach to fisheries management: Policy and practice in Southeast Asian seas. Marine Policy, 106 , 103531.
Sahrasyad, H., Chaidar, A., Chaidar, A., Akmal, M., Saifullah, S., Amalia, N., & Effida, D. Q. (2018). Maritime Terrorism Network: Threat and Security in Contemporary Southeast Asia. Walisongo. Journals of socio-religious research, 26 (1), 115-146.
Singh, A. B. H. I. J. I. T. (2019). Maritime Terrorism in Asia: An Assessment. RF Occasional Pape , 215.
