Indonesia’s Maritime and Security Agency (Bakamla) has officially handed over eight fishermen the Malaysian authorities arrested last April to the Natuna district government, Riau Islands Province.
The handover of the freed fishermen was marked by a signing ceremony, held on Bakamla’s KN Tanjung Datu 301 patrol ship docking at Selat Lampa Port on Natuna Besar Island on Sunday morning.
The KN Tanjung Datu 301 commanding officer, Rudi Endratmoko, said the eight fishermen are the residents of Subi and Pulau Tiga Subdistricts, Natuna Island District.
Bakamla received the handover of the Natuna fishermen from the Malaysian authorities in the Indonesia-Malaysia maritime boundary line of Tanjung Datu waters on Saturday (Aug. 10) morning, he said.
On Saturday evening, they had been reunited with their families, according to the Natuna fisheries office head, Hadi Suryanto.
The Malaysian maritime security authorities nabbed the fishermen for allegedly trespassing their territorial waters in April this year.
They could have been freed after the Malaysian court issued its ruling, Suryanto said.
As reported earlier, Indonesia’s traditional fishermen had repeatedly been arrested in Malaysia, Thailand, and even India over the past few years.
On April 9, 2021, for instance, Thai authorities detained 34 Acehnese fishermen over poaching in the country’s waters.
The Acehnese fishermen’s fishing vessel was intercepted by the Royal Thai naval vessel on its way back to East Aceh District through Thailand’s sea route after catching fish.
In early 2020, Thai authorities also detained 30 Acehnese fishermen and three children after they were caught poaching in Thailand’s waters.
Thereafter, in February 2020, at least 21 fishermen and three children were caught poaching in the country’s waters.
The six children were repatriated to Indonesia on July 16, 2020.
Early, in October 2020, the Indonesian Traditional Fishermen Association (KNTI) confirmed that 51 Aceh fishermen had returned to Indonesia after being granted a royal pardon from Thailand’s King Maha Vajiralongkorn on his birthday on July 28, 2020.
The fishermen had received the pardon owing to efforts by the Indonesian Foreign Ministry through the Indonesian Consulate General in Songkla.
On March 3, 2020, 12 Acehnese fishermen were also detained by the Indian Navy in the waters off Nicobar Island in the eastern Indian Ocean for poaching.