The Debate | Diplomacy | Southeast Asia

The Limbang Question Lingers On

The territory’s curious status is the result of an unresolved border dispute between Malaysia and Brunei that dates back to the British colonial era.

A river in the district of Limbang, in Malaysia’s Sarawak state.

Whenever young Bruneians want to eat chicken wings and drink beer, they often head to Limbang in neighboring Malaysia. It may sound strange to cross an international border for an evening out, but Limbang is only a few kilometers from Brunei’s capital, Bandar Seri Begawan.

One might marvel at how, despite an unresolved border dispute in the area, the two countries allow their citizens to freely travel back and forth. But as part of ASEAN, Bruneians and Malaysians don’t need visas to cross the border.

Geography has also made this sleepy town something of a go-between for Brunei and Malaysia, especially when it comes to Temburong, Brunei’s eastern district. Many people living there travel daily to Bandar Seri Begawan for work, but the land route takes them through Limbang. In effect, to travel from one part of their own country to another, they enter Malaysia and then cross back into Brunei. Limbang residents face a similar peculiarity when traveling within Sarawak, of which Limbang is a part. To reach Miri, the nearest Sarawak city, they have to pass through Brunei before re-entering Sarawak to the west.

For a foreign traveler, the arrangement can be bewildering, as multiple border crossings and immigration stamps can quickly fill up their passports. For Bruneians and Malaysians, it is easier, as they can generally use their identity cards for cross-border travel.

Limbang’s curious status is the result of an unresolved border dispute that dates back to the British colonial era – a dispute that the two sides are now moving toward resolving. During the 27th Annual Leaders’ Consultation in Bandar Seri Begawan on August 21, Brunei’s Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah and Malaysian Prime Minister Anwar Ibrahim discussed the demarcation of the two countries’ land boundary. More than half of the border has now been demarcated. Yet the question of Limbang still lingers on.

In a joint communiqué issued after their meeting, the two leaders reaffirmed the 2009 Exchange of Letters, the March 2012 boundary memorandum and its Terms of Reference, collectively describing them as binding instruments. It also directs the two sides to resolve Sector F–G, which covers the Limbang area, solely through the watershed principle, using one jointly determined watershed, before completing the survey and demarcation by May 31, 2027.

According to senior Bruneian journalist Malai Hassan Othman, Sector F–G is supposed to cover roughly 6.6 kilometers from Bebuloh towards a point west of Bukit Gadong, near Kampong Limau Manis and the Kuala Lurah-Tedungan crossing (Kuala Lurah is the Brunei border checkpoint, and Tedungan is the matching Malaysian checkpoint in Sarawak for travel between Brunei and Limbang. It lies along the Brunei-Muara-Limbang frontier and is therefore geographically connected to Limbang. But it would be misleading to describe the sector as synonymous with the entire Limbang territorial question.

Malai Hassan, in an article published on LinkedIn, explained in detail the historical background of the sovereignty dispute over Limbang. Buttressing Brunei’s claim, he writes that records from 1970 clearly indicate that the late Sultan Haji Omar ’Ali Saifuddien, father of the present Sultan, stressed Brunei’s claim........

© The Diplomat