Indonesia arrests nearly 580 Vietnamese for illegal fishing

Jakarta (VNA) – Indonesian authorities have so far captured nearly 580 Vietnamese fishermen for illegal fishing in the country’s waters.

The captured were mainly from the southern province of Ba Ria – Vung Tau, the Mekong Delta province of Tien Giang and Kien Giang, and the central province of Binh Dinh, Khanh Hoa, Phu Yen, and Binh Thuan.

According to Nguyen Thanh Giang – staff of the Vietnamese Embassy in Indonesia, the list of arrested Vietnamese fishermen has not matched with the reality, so the agency is working to update the latest figure to complete citizen protection procedures to return home the fishermen.

Talking to Indonesia-based Vietnam News Agency correspondents, Vietnamese Ambassador Hoang Anh Tuan said the embassy always attaches importance to protecting Vietnamese citizens and promptly addressing relevant issues.   

The agency has asked the Indonesian side to humanely treat Vietnamese fishermen and return assets to them. It has also coordinated with authorised agencies in the homeland to complete procedures for repatriate the fishermen.

It recommended relatives of arrested fishermen to coordinate with the department of foreign affairs in their localities to fulfill related procedures to ask Indonesian authorities to release fishermen.

The number of Vietnamese fishermen arrested by Indonesian authorities for illegal fishing has been on the rise. Since the beginning of 2017, 42 fishing boats with 392 fishermen have been arrested.

The embassy has coordinated with Indonesia’s competent agencies to repatriate 390 fishermen.
 
To prevent similar violations, the embassy has worked with domestic authorised agencies to increase communication campaigns to raise Vietnamese fishermen’s awareness of strictly abiding by legal regulations on fishing of the two countries.

Indonesia applied strict regulations on illegal fishing activities in the country’s waters. In almost all cases, violating ships will be destroyed.-VNA