Jakarta, March 20, 2013 (ANTARA) - The Ministry of Marine and Fisheries Affairs (KKP) has once again successfully repatriated 3 (three) Aceh-originated fishermen from India. They were stranded in the Andaman and Nicobar Island, India on 23rd December 2012. Earlier in March, KKP has also repatriated 11 (eleven) fishermen detained by Malaysia. This repatriation was successfully conducted by KKP which was fully backed up by the Embassy of Republic of Indonesia (KBRI) in New Delhi, India and the Department of Marine and Fisheries of Aceh Province. Those three fishermen were delivered by Garuda Indonesia airplane on Tuesday, March, 19, 2013 at 16.00 local time in Sultan Iskandar Muda Airport, Banda Aceh.

The Minister of Marine and Fisheries Affairs, Sharif C. Sutardjo, explains that the repatriation of detained fishermen aboard is an averment of the protection provided by The Republic of Indonesia Government to the Indonesian Fishermen. If a detainment of Indonesian fishermen occurred abroad, KKP thus will absolutely struggle to release and repatriate them. This effort is by means of the cooperation with other competent authorities; in this case is The Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The advocacy act constantly conducted by RI's KKP has even successfully repatriated up to 330 troubled fishermen abroad to date. Malaysia, Australia, Republic of Palau, Papua New Guinea, Timor Leste, and India are some of the most-violated countries by the Indonesian fishermen. "In the future, we hope that the number of the troubled fishermen abroad will be constantly decreasing as the fishermen increasingly comprehend the Regional Fisheries Management of Republic of Indonesia. Therefore, RI's KKP urge the local government to jointly conduct the founding and responsive action to the problem faced by the fishermen," he said.

Sharif adds, the three fishermen successfully repatriated are Basri bin Bustari (28 year-old) of Kampung Jawa village, Kuta Raja sub-ditrict, Banda Aceh City; Muhibpudin bin Kairudin (24 year-old) of Pante Cut village, Kuala Batee sub-district, Southwest Aceh regency, and Safaribin Hemit (30 year-old) of Ujong Tanjung village, Meurebo sub-district, West Aceh Regency. Originally, they got stranded in Andaman and Nicobar Island on December, 23, 2012, because of the boat's engine failure. In the prior, there were four of them, sadly, one of them named Baka (40 year-old), died of the gastric issue. The rest three fishermen decided to wash Baka's body away on the sea, along with his clothes. "Personally, I, and on behalf of the Government of Republic Indonesia, would like to give a very deep condolence. May his soul accepted by the One ond Only God and his family will be given fortitude and sincerity.

For more information, please contact Indra Sakti, SE, MM, The Head of Data, Statistic and Information Center, The Ministry of Maritime and Fisheries Affairs. (Ph. 0818159705)

Editor: PR Wire
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