Indonesia returns more Vietnamese fishermen

This is the third handover of Vietnamese fishermen from Indonesia during December 2018, with a total of 53 fishermen, who were detained in the Indonesian city of Pontianak. 

Nguyen Van Son, one of the freed fishermen from the central province of Ba Ria-Vung Tau, thanked the Indonesian Government and the Vietnamese Embassy for bringing him and the other fishermen home, and promised not to repeat violations while fishing. 

According to the embassy, issues regarding detained Vietnamese fishermen and fishing boats were discussed during the visit to Vietnam by Indonesian President Joko Widodo in September and the visit to Indonesia by Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc in October this year. 

The Indonesian President has committed to soon releasing a total of 155 Vietnamese fishermen.

The two sides also affirmed their resolve to address these issue in a humanitarian spirit and on the basis of the friendly neighbourliness between the two countries as well as international law. 

Since the beginning of this year, the embassy has closely coordinated with Indonesian agencies, especially the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries, and competent Vietnamese agencies to return a total of 420 fishermen. 

The embassy is expected to repatriate all Vietnamese fishermen seized by Indonesian authorities ahead of the Lunar New Year, which falls in February 2019.