The repatriation process of those 13 fishermen was facilitated by the General Directory of Marine and Fishery Resources of the Ministry of Marine and Fishery.Medan, N. Sumatra (ANTARA News) - The Government of Malaysia has released 13 traditional fishermen from Batu Bara Region in North Sumatra, after they were jailed for five months on charges of illegally crossing the border.
"They are scheduled to arrive in Medan Polonia Airport from Malaysia on Tuesday, Feb 28," said Head of Marine and Fishery Resources of Balawan Station Mukhtar in Medan on Monday.
The repatriation process of those 13 fishermen was facilitated by the General Directory of Marine and Fishery Resources of the Ministry of Marine and Fishery.
Mukhtar further said they would be picked up in Malaysia by Director of Violation Management of the General Directory of Marine and Fishery Resources Nugroho Adji.
Head of Indonesian Fishermen Association of Batu Bara Region Edi Alwi said, after the release of this group there were no other fishermen from Batu Bara being held in jails in Malaysia.
In January 2012, six fishermen from Batu Bara were sentenced to jail in Malaysia.
"After the release of those 13 fishermen, we hope there would be no more fisherman from Batu Bara who are arrested and jailed on trespassing accusations by Malaysian Marine Officers," he said.
Alwi further said the Indonesian Fishermen Association was hoping that the government would provide a briefing about marine rules and sea borders between Indonesia and Malaysia to traditional fishermen in local regions, especially around the Malacca Strait.
"All this time, the violations of border trespassing by traditional fishermen from the Batu Bara Region was mainly caused by the lack of navigational equipment and their understanding of the sea border," he said.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
Copyright © ANTARA 2012
