From @ForeignPolicy Is Southeast Asia a haven for hijackers, pirates, and terrorists?

Read this to understand how border security should get more attention in Southeast Asia.

 

Jumbo in the Jungle

http://www.foreignpolicy.com/articles/2014/03/14/_malaysia_airlines_mh370_southeast_asia_terrorism

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Is Southeast Asia a haven for hijackers, pirates, and terrorists? http://t.co/TlIiUbUwlz

— Foreign Policy (@ForeignPolicy) March 15, 2014

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But the large, often remote maritime and land borders between Southeast Asian nations remain relatively porous and are exploited by insurgent groups with a domestic focus. Indonesia, Myanmar, the Philippines and Thailand all face domestic armed threats facilitated by nationals working across the border. Southern Thai insurgents, including the Patani United Liberation Organization, the National Revolutionary Front, and other ethnic-Malay separatist groups, run extensive smuggling networks into Malaysia. Armed forces along Myanmar's frontiers, such as the Karen National Liberation Army and the Kachin Independence Army, regular cross international borders for safe haven and supplies, though some also smuggle drugs and weapons across borders. And the nexus between the southern Philippines' Sulu Archipelago and the island of Borneo, split primarily between Malaysia and Indonesia, is a hotbed for trafficking in weapons and persons, as well as an area of contestation among governments, criminal organizations, and extremist groups.

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