The East Timor Action Network issued a statement this week calling on Australia to “honor the national sovereignty and resource rights of East Timor by respecting international law in determining the maritime boundary between the two countries.” Australia is at loggerheads with the world’s newest country over the rights to large oil and natural gas deposits lying under the Timor Sea between Australia and East Timor. Australia recently withdrew from the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea, which provides a mechanism for settling territorial disputes. Rights to resources could prove crucial in bolstering East Timor’s weak economy and improving the quality of life in the country, ETAN claims.
