Kepulauan Ashmore dan Cartier
Kepulauan Ashmore dan Cartier adalah dua kepulauan tropis kecil yang tidak berpenghuni di Samudera Hindia. Terletak di sebelah barat laut Australia dan sebelah selatan Pulau Rote, Indonesia
Letak Geografis
Wilayah mencakup Ashmore Reef (barat, tengah, dan Timur dari kepulauan) dan Kepulauan Cartier (70 km sebelah timur). Total area 199.45 km² berbentuk karang dan termasuk laguna, 114,400 m² berbentuk dataran kering. Memiliki garis pantai sepanjang 74.1 km, yang diukur dari tepi luar terumbu karang. Tidak terdapat pelabuhan, hanya berupa garis pantai. Walaupun dekat dengan gugusan karang Hibernia, 42 km sebelah timur laut Ashmore Reef, tapi bukan merupakan bagian dari kepulauan ini, melainkan termasuk wilayah Australia Barat [1]. Gugusan karang Hibernia tidak memiliki dataran kering yang permanen, dataran kering tersebut baru akan muncul ketika air laut sedang surut.
- Ashmore Reef 155.40 km² berbentuk karang (termasuk laguna)
- Bagian barat, seluas 51,200 m²;
- Bagian tengah, seluas 21,200 m²;
- Bagian timur, seluas 25,000 m²;
- Cartier Reef 44.03 km² berbentuk karang (termasuk laguna)
- Kepualauan Cartier, seluas 17,000 m²;
Terdapat sebuah stasiun pemantau cuaca di sebelah barat pulau.
Pemerintahan
Wilayah ini bearada dalam kekuasaan Australia dibawah Departemen Hukum dan Pemerintahan[2] (Sebelum tanggal 29 Nopember 2007,[3] berada di bawah Departemen Transportasi dan Pelayanan). Dengan kode FIPS-10 adalah AT; wilayah ini termasuk dalam negara Australia menurut ketentuan ISO 3166. Australia bertanggung jawab atas keamanan pulau, dengan dikunjungi oleh Angkatan Laut Australia dan Angkatan Udara Australia secara berkala. Pulau ini dikunjungi oleh pengunjung musiman.
Ashmore Reef disebut Pulau Pasir oleh orang Indonesia, dan termasuk kedalam Kabupaten Rote Ndao, propinsi Nusa Tenggara Timur.[4] Dalam bahasa Pulau Rote, sering disebut Nusa Solokaek yang juga berarti pulau pasir.[5]
Ekologi
Cagar Alam Kelautan Ashmore didirikan bulan Agustus 1983. It is of significant biodiversity value as it is in the flow of the Indonesian Throughflow ocean current from the Pacific Ocean through the Indonesian Archipelago to the Indian Ocean. It is also in a surface current west from the Arafura Sea and Timor Sea. There are 14 distinct species of sea snake in the area, more than in any other area. There is also an unusually high level of species diversity of coral, mollusks, and fish. A memorandum of understanding between the Australian and Indonesian governments allows Indonesian fishermen access to their traditional fishing grounds within the region, subject to limits.
Cartier Island Marine Reserve includes the entire sand cay of Cartier Island, the reef surrounding it, the ocean for a 72 km (45 mi) radius around the island, and 1.000 m (3.300 ft) below the seafloor. It was proclaimed in 2000.
Economy and migration
There is no economic activity in the Territory. As Ashmore Reef is the closest point of Australian territory to Indonesia, it was a popular target for people smugglers transporting asylum seekers to Australia.[6] Once they had landed on Ashmore, asylum seekers could claim to have entered Australian territory and request to be processed as refugees. The use of Ashmore for this purpose created great notoriety during late 2001, when refugee arrivals became a major political issue in Australia. As Australia was not the country of first asylum for these "boat people", the Australian Government did not consider it had a responsibility to accept them.
A number of things were done to discourage the practice such as attempting to have the people smugglers arrested in Indonesia; the so-called Pacific Solution of processing them in third countries; the boarding and forced turnaround of the boats by Australian military forces, and finally excising Ashmore and many other small islands from the Australian migration zone. Two boatloads of asylum seekers were each detained for several days in the lagoon at Ashmore after failed attempts by the Royal Australian Navy to turn them back to Indonesia in October 2001.
See also
References
- ^ http://www.statoids.com/uau.html
- ^ First Assistant Secretary, Territories Division (2008-01-30). "Territories of Australia". Attorney-General's Department. Diakses tanggal 2008-02-07.
The Federal Government, through the Attorney-General's Department administers Ashmore and Cartier Islands, Christmas Island, the Cocos (Keeling) Islands, the Coral Sea Islands, Jervis Bay, and Norfolk Island as Territories.
- ^ Department of Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government. "Territories of Australia". Diakses tanggal 2008-02-07.
As part of the Machinery of Government Changes following the Federal Election on 29 November 2007, administrative responsibility for Territories has been transferred to the Attorney General's Department.
- ^ Ashmore Reef, Ashmore and Cartier Islands (external territory of Australia)
- ^ The Settlement of Papela
- ^ Inside Indonesia Anita Roberts "Don't let them drown" Inside Indonesia Apr–Jun 2001, vol. 64
External links
- Ashmore and Cartier Islands di CIA World Factbook.
- Geoscience Australia—Ashmore and Cartier Islands
- Department of the Environment and Heritage—Ashmore Reef National Nature Reserve
- Department of the Environment and Heritage—Cartier Island Marine Reserve
- First on list of Australian islands
- "Ashmore Reef Belongs to Indonesia," posted on East Timor Action Network. [1]
- "Ashmore Islands are member of ARABOSAI" [2]