Pedra Branca
| Pedra Branca | ||
|---|---|---|
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| Waters | South China Sea | |
| Geographical location | 1 ° 19 '48 " N , 104 ° 24' 27" E | |
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| surface | 0.2 ha | |
Pedra Branca Island ( Malay name: Pulau Batu Putih , English translation: "White Rock Island ") is located 20 km (11 nautical miles ) east of the coast of Singapore. Their size is 2,000 m² .
Singapore and Malaysia claimed this island. As of 2003, the case has been heard by the International Court of Justice . The public hearings began on November 6, 2007. On May 23, 2008, it was decided that Pedra Branca would be under the sovereignty of Singapore. The Middle Rocks , also negotiated in these proceedings, were awarded to Malaysia.
history
From 1513 the Sultanate of Johor exercised sovereignty over Pedra Branca. In the same year the Sultanate of Johore-Riau-Lingga was founded by Sultan Mahmood, which was ceded by the Portuguese in 1511. The British-Dutch Treaty of 1824 settled the dispute between England and Portugal over the Johore Empire. A border was drawn across the Strait of Malacca and the south of Singapore, Pedra Branca was then under the influence of the British Empire, but at the same time also in the territory of today's Johore Empire, which is the legal successor to the Sultanate of Johore-Riau-Lingga.
John Turnbull Thomson built Horsburgh Lighthouse for the Straits Settlements on Pedra Branca in 1851 . Since then, the island was administered as Malaysian territory by Great Britain until the end of the colonial period. There are no records of the cession of the island in 1918 (other sources: 1927) by the Sultan of Johore to Singapore. And according to today's representation of Malaysia, that was never the intention of the Sultanate of Johore. Singapore takes the position that it is the legal successor to the colony of the British Empire and that it is entitled to the island that was under the control of the Empire.
Web links
- Official documents collection of the ICJ to litigation (Engl.)
- The conflict from the perspective of the Singapore Foreign Ministry ( Memento of March 12, 2012 in the Internet Archive )
Individual evidence
- ↑ ICJ awards Pedra Branca's sovereignty to Singapore , Channel NewsAsia . May 23, 2008.
- ^ Court awards islet to Singapore , BBC . May 23, 2008.