NCJ Number
190504
Journal
Studies in Conflict and Terrorism Volume: 24 Issue: 4 Dated: July/August 2001 Pages: 241-269
Date Published
2001
Length
29 pages
Annotation
This article describes Islamic movements in Southern Thailand, the Southern Philippines, and Aceh.
Abstract
Insurgency and armed separatism have been issues of domestic and regional concern in Southeast Asia for many years. During much of the Cold War, the activities of a variety of internal ethno-nationalist and religious groups posed one of the most significant threats to the polities of the region. Since the end of the Cold War, varying degrees of autonomy have been given to many of these areas in an attempt to appease separatist tendencies. In spite of these developments, separatist tendencies continue to pose a problem for internal and regional stability within Southeast Asia. The roots of separatist identity in Southern Thailand, Mindanao, and Aceh derive from the same basic factors: insensitivity to local concerns, regional neglect, military repression, and the force of Islam. In Southern Thailand, the threat emanating from PULO and New PULO has been greatly reduced thanks to regional economic and administrative development and enhanced cross-border cooperation with Malaysia -- which has deprived both groups of external safe-haven. In Mindanao, growing disillusionment with the 1996 Davao Consensus continues to feed extremist backing for Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) and the Abu Sayyaf Group (ASG), both of which are additionally able to draw on well-established international support networks. The situation in Aceh is just as problematic, where ongoing military repression, perceptions of regional neglect, and access to outside money and arms all continue to avail the operational visibility of Gerakan Aceh Merdeka (GAM). Of all three regions, it is the situation in Aceh that is potentially the most explosive. An escalation of violence in Aceh would have substantial regional reverberations. Heightened GAM activity would certainly resonate with Islamic radicals elsewhere in Southeast Asia, galvanizing separatist activity in Mindanao and Southern Kelantan. These developments would precipitate highly destabilizing inter- and intracounty migration flows, fuel transnational threats such as terrorism and arms trafficking, and contribute to increased instability in key Southeast Asia States. 122 notes