MARITIME BORDER DISPUTE BETWEEN KENYA AND SOMALIA

 MARITIME BORDER DISPUTE BETWEEN KENYA AND SOMALIA

□ WHY IN NEWS ?

In a move that is set to further undermine stability in East Africa, Kenya has said that it will not take part in proceedings of the International Court of Justice (ICJ) over its maritime border dispute.

□ ABOUT :-

◇ Main point of disagreement between the two neighbours is the direction in which their maritime boundary in the Indian Ocean should extend.

◇ According to Somalia, the sea border should be an extension of the same direction in which their land border runs as it approaches the Indian Ocean, i.e. towards the southeast.

◇ Kenya, on the other hand, argues that the territorial southeast border should take a 45-degree turn as it reaches the sea, and then run in a latitudinal direction, i.e. parallel to the equator.

◇ Such an arrangement would be advantageous for Kenya, whose coastline of 536 km is more than 6 times smaller than Somalia’s (3,333 km).