Malaysia–Philippines border
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The Malaysia–Philippines border is a maritime boundary located in the South China, Sulu and Celebes Seas. It separates the Malaysian state of Sabah, which is on the island of Borneo, and the Sulu Islands of the southern Philippines.
The boundary is the result of the division of the Sulu Sultanate through the cession of its territories to colonial powers. The British gained control of the northeast shores of Borneo, which became known as North Borneo and subsequently Sabah, while the rest of the Sulu Islands fell under Spanish control and later United States rule. The Philippines still officially claim the eastern part of Sabah as part of its territory, arguing the validity of the cession by the heirs of the Sultan of Sulu.[1]
The region of Sabah remained in controversary for many decades. In recent history, the Sabah region has again garnered global attention owing to the Malaysia-Sulu Case. The case involves a multi-billion dollar arbitration claim made by the self-proclaimed descendants of the last Sultan of Sulu Empire against the Malaysian government. The arbitration claim featured the region of Sabah and a colonial-era agreement. The 1878 agreement involved a deal with the Sulu Sultan for the use of his territory now falling in present-day Malaysia. The Malaysian government continued honoring the agreement until 2013. However, after 2013 Lahad Datu standoff , the government of Malaysia stopped the payment henceforth. Before this incident, Malaysia continued to dutifully pay an annual cession payment amounting to roughly $1,000 to the indirect heirs of the Sultan honoring an 1878 agreement, where North Borneo – today's Sabah – was conceded by the late Sultan of Sulu to a British company. As a result, the self-proclaimed Sulu heirs pursued this case for legal arbitration vis-a-vis the original commercial deal.[2][3] The claimants had demanded compensation worth US$32 billion. In January 2022, a Spanish arbitrator Gonzalo Stampa ruled in favor of claimants, awarding an arbitration settlement of US$15 billion, the largest such award in international arbitration history. On 27 June 2023, the award was eventually struck down by The Hague Court of Appeal. The decision proved to be a "landmark victory" for Malaysia. In a crucial current development, Stampa has been convicted of contempt of court for "knowingly disobeying rulings and orders from the Madrid High Court of Justice", and sentenced to six months in prison. [4] The proceedings of this case are still ongoing.
Malaysia and the Philippines are also parties to the multinational claims over the Spratly Islands and both countries have overlapping claims over some islands of the archipelago. The historical connections of the people living on both sides of the border has resulted in the border being extremely porous, with a lot of illegal immigration from the Philippines to Malaysia occurring. The porous border has also resulted in several incidents of cross-border raids and kidnapping by armed groups from the Philippines on Malaysian towns and resorts on the east coast of Sabah.