THE Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Australia on Saturday sealed a historic agreement seeking to bolster regional security, with the joint signing of the memorandum of understanding on a Cooperation to Counter International Terrorism on the sidelines of the Asean-Australia Special Summit.
Leading the Philippine government delegation was Foreign Secretary Alan Peter Cayetano, who represents President Rodrigo Duterte for the two-day leaders’ dialogue in Sydney.
The MOU is aimed at strengthening the cooperation between the two parties in combating terrorism, counter-terrorism financing, and in the fight against violent extremism.
In a joint statement, the leaders stressed that the crafting of the MOU demonstrates their “joint resolve to stand together” against those who seek to divide communities.
The document intensifies Australia’s annual engagement with the bloc and enshrines practical measures to deepen dialogue across governments and security and law enforcement institutions.
The MOU is supported by programs on technical and regulatory assistance to develop best practices in aid of counter-terrorism legislation, and regional dialogues and workshops on topics, such as electronic evidence, financial intelligence, and countering online radicalization.
“Asean nations have a strong record of working together to confront violent extremism and defeat terrorist organizations,” the joint statement read.
“In recent years the threat posed
by returning foreign fighters and ISIL-linked extremists has grown. It makes today’s cooperation all the more important,” it added.
The MOU signing adds to the numerous peace and security cooperation between the two parties, which ranges from cyber and maritime cooperation, in their fight against people trafficking.
In related developments:
• Australia on Saturday warned the use of encrypted messaging apps to plan terrorist attacks was the greatest threat faced by intelligence agencies in modern times and urged a “united and cohesive” response.
Home Affairs Minister Peter Dutton told an Asean-Australia special summit in Sydney that the use of the “dark web” by extremists and other criminals was a spiraling problem.
“The use of encrypted messaging apps by terrorists and criminals is potentially the most significant degradation of intelligence capability in modern times,” he said.
Dutton added at the meeting of Southeast Asian leaders that the only way to deal with the threat, and the increasing use of the Internet by groups like Islamic State to radicalize and recruit new members, was together.
“While our nations are focused on countering the ongoing threat of terrorism domestically, it would be a mistake to approach the problem from a purely national perspective,” he said.
“Terrorism and violent extremism transcend national borders.
“Countering the threat requires a united and cohesive regional effort involving coordination between our respective national security and law enforcement agencies.”
Canberra is already helping Southeast Asian states choke terrorist financing and counter violent extremism.
• Provocative images of one-time human rights icon Aung San Suu Kyi with a Hitler moustache and banners demanding Cambodia’s Hun Sen step down were held by protesters in Sydney in a rally against Southeast Asian leaders.
Thousands demonstrated in the city against a raft of grievances on the sidelines of an Australia-Asean special summit, where Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull has vowed to tackle human rights issues.
They came together to urge the release of political prisoners in Vietnam, an end to strongman Hun Sen’s regime in Cambodia and a halt to the military crackdown on Rohingya in Myanmar.
“We are here to protest issues that are happening in Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand, the Rohingya—you name it, we are here to send a clear voice to these governments that you do not mistreat human rights,” Vietnamese-Australian protestor Davy Nguyen told AFP.
Leaders from the Association of Southeast Asian Nations including Hun Sen, Myanmar’s de facto leader Aung San Suu Kyi and Vietnam’s Nguyen Xuan Phuc, are in Sydney for talks. The Philippines’ Rodrigo Duterte opted not to attend.
All have been accused of oppression.
“The summit is here, and the [Australian] government needs to do something—they need to put human rights before economics, before money,” Nguyen added.
Among banners was one portraying Aung San Suu Kyi with a Adolf Hitler moustache, calling on her to “Return the Nobel Prize.”
The terrorist problem has been exacerbated by jihadists now being forced out of Syria and Iraq with the Islamic State caliphate mostly crushed.
The issue was driven home last year when pro-Islamic State militants seized the southern Philippine city of Marawi, with Australia aiding Manila to win it back.
A memorandum of understanding will be issued at the summit later Saturday, reportedly with an agreement to pool cyber intelligence and police resources across the region for the first time.
The Australian newspaper said it would include a regional digital forensics task force and uniform criminal legislative frameworks to secure prosecutions.
Australia has suffered six terror attacks in recent years and disrupted 14 more, including a plot to bring down a plane departing Sydney.
In response, Canberra has consolidated key functions like national security, immigration, counter-terrorism, cyber-security, and border protection under a newly-created Home Affairs department, headed by Dutton.
He said that to address the issue of apps which allow extremists to operate clandestinely, Canberra planned to introduce legislation to strengthen agencies’ ability to adapt to encryption.
This will include making companies that provide communications services and devices obliged to assist when asked, while also making the use of surveillance devices and computer network exploitation by authorities easier.
Asean groups Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, the Philippines, Singapore, Thailand and Vietnam, with Australia a dialogue partner since 1974.