Indonesia repatriates 42 captured Vietnamese fishermen

This is the 47th repatriation carried out by Indonesia this year with the biggest number of repatriated fishermen, Vietnamese Ambassador to Indonesia Hoang Anh Tuan was quoted by the Vietnam News Agencyas saying.

The Vietnamese Embassy in Jakarta has worked hard to complete necessary procedures for the repatriation of 666 fishermen within 2015, the ambassador said.

Indonesia has arrested 659 Vietnamese fishermen along with 59 of their fishing boats in 2015 for violating its maritime territory, about three times the number of detained fishers in previous years, according to Ambassador Tuan.

Under the strict policy of President Joko Widodo’s administration, more than 30 out of over 100 Vietnamese ships were destroyed or sunk after being seized, the Vietnam News Agency cited the diplomat as saying.

There is a certain lack of legal knowledge among Vietnamese fishermen, making it easy for them to unintentionally infringe on other countries’ waters while fishing offshore, Ambassador Tuan said.

Aside from the embassy’s efforts to protect the rights of the arrested in Indonesia, the ambassador also urged Vietnamese localities and ship owners to provide their fishermen with education on maritime boundaries and the laws of neighboring countries to avoid infringing their territories.

On December 19, Ambassador Tuan paid a visit to the Vietnamese fishermen held at Tanjung Pinang Prison on Indonesia’s Bintan Island and spent about two days there working with local authorities to safeguard the fishers’ legitimate rights and interests.

The diplomat also requested Indonesian authorities to consider shortening the sentences of the fishermen in order for them to return to their families before the Lunar New Year.