According to the embassy’s First Secretary Nguyen Tran Trung, the trip was carried out with the coordination and support of Malaysia’s federal authorities and Sabah state. The 11 fishermen, on board two unregistered fishing vessels, were arrested by Malaysian maritime authorities on September 15 and are being held in Kota Kinabalu.

Embassy representatives met with officials from Sabah’s Prison Department, the Malaysian Maritime Enforcement Agency (MMEA)’s office in Sabah, and the management of the Kota Kinabalu detention facility to obtain detailed information about the case, the conditions of detention, and the ongoing investigation process.

According to the embassy, the fishermen have been in a stable condition. The embassy requested the detention facility to provide them with food and essential supplies, ensuring minimum living condition for the detainees. The fishermen told the embassy that two brokers took them to Malaysia for illegal fishing.

The embassy reaffirmed the Vietnamese State’s consistent policy of building a sustainable and responsible fisheries sector and determination to strictly combat and handle any IUU fishing practice. It also urged the Malaysian authorities to ensure humane treatment of the fishermen and to respect their legitimate rights and interests in accordance with international law and norms.

Immediately after the incident, the embassy coordinated closely with Malaysian authorities to implement citizen protection measures.

Vietnam strengthens law enforcement to combat IUU fishing

Deputy Prime Minister Tran Hong Ha has directed the Ministry of Agriculture and Environment to urgently finalise and submit to the Prime Minister an emergency action plan to implement the European Commission’s (EC) recommendations on combating IUU fishing, in preparation for the EC’s fifth inspection mission.