Detained boat crew to return for holiday
Thirty-three Vietnamese fishermen detained for entering Indonesia’s territorial waters illegally will be released to enable them to return home for the Tet holiday, authorities in West Kalimantan Province have said.
The Vietnamese Embassy in Indonesia sent a working delegation to visit West Kalimantan from February 3-6.
The delegation asked the provincial authorities to work with the Vietnamese fishermen who’d been sentenced and imprisoned in Pontianak, the capital of West Kalimantan, on the basis of humanitarian consideration. The province was asked to consider releasing those who had behaved well under detention.
Cornelis M.H., Governor of West Kalimantan, praised the efforts of the Vietnamese delegation and said he would support expediting the work of relevant agencies to release another 15 fishermen soon.
According to West Kalimantan authorities, 54 Vietnamese fishing boats have been caught since 2009 and about 260 fishermen sentenced for violating territorial waters, and most of them were imprisoned in Pontianak.
Thai authorities, in co-ordination with the Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand, have also completed procedures to repatriate 40 Vietnamese fishermen who were arrested and put on trial for illegal violations of Thailand’s sea territory.
Over half of the fishermen will return to Vietnam on February 9, just one day before the Lunar New Year. They were detained for between two and three months.
Vietnam and Thailand have signed a fisheries co-operative agreement under which the two sides will work together to prevent and deal with violations of territorial waters. However, tackling the problem effectively remains an issue.
The Vietnamese Embassy in Thailand has co-operated with relevant Thai agencies to deal with these cases.
As a result, nearly 500 fishermen imprisoned in Thailand have returned home.