Indonesia to free 690 Vietnamese fishermen

The Vietnamese Embassy in Indonesia and local authorised agencies on June 7 completed procedures for repatriating Vietnamese fishermen by sea. This is the second handover that both countries have conducted at sea and the sixth this year. 

Nguyen Thanh Giang, an official of the Vietnamese Embassy in Indonesia, said final steps of the repatriation will finish soon so that the fishermen can return to their country as planned. 

Three vessels of Vietnam Coast Guard will arrive at Batam port at 9am on June 9 to pick up Vietnamese fishermen who were detained in Indonesian islands of Pontianak, Tanjung Pinang, Tarempa, Batam and Natuna. 

Handover by sea is the safest and most effective way to repatriate such a large number of fishermen, said Vietnamese Ambassador to Indonesia Hoang Anh Tuan.

With this release, Vietnamese fishermen who have been returned home have totalled 1,030 since the beginning of this year, equal to the number in 2016.