"These fishermen formally work in Malaysia. Therefore, they (the Malaysian government) need to take concrete action to ensure security in their waters," she said after holding talks with her Malaysian counterpart, Dato Seri Anifah Aman, here on Monday.
Retno noted that her prompt visit to Malaysia was in response to the abduction of two more Indonesian citizens in the Malaysian waters.
"As we all can see, many Indonesians have fallen victim to abductions this year. Just in 2016, we have recorded six such cases. Three of them occurred in the Philippine waters and the rest in the Malaysian waters," she recalled.
All the cases of abduction in Malaysia occurred after May 2016. To address the issue, both sides met in Yogyakarta and then followed it up with bilateral talks, she noted.
"In the past, we focused our talks on corridor, sea marshal and so on. But now we are encountering a new situation in which Indonesian fishermen working in Malaysia are being abducted and these cases have occurred in the Malaysian waters," she explained.
In response to the latest abduction case, she said she flew to Malaysia because she wanted to react promptly.
Reported by Agus Setiawan
EDITED BY INE
(T.S012/B/KR-BSR/A014)
Editor: Aditia Maruli Radja
Copyright © ANTARA 2016
