Out of 46 fishermen of Bac Lieu Province who have been released after serving their sentences in Malaysia for illegally fishing in the country’s sea territory, 28 have yet to return to Vietnam since they have no money.
All the fishermen completed their sentences on November 8, 2011 and 18 of them have returned to Vietnam, while the rest remained in Malaysia, unable to come up with enough money to buy a ticket home.
They were arrested in late June 2011 and all their three boats and tools were seized.
The boats’ owners sent the vessels and fishermen to a Malaysian sea area for fishing after securing the necessary permit from a broker who counterfeited the papers. After the Malaysian authorities discovered them, they seized all the crewmembers and boats.
The boats’ owners said they had reported their swindling partner to the provincial police.
One of the victim was Truong Van Duong, whose mother, Truong Thi Nho, told Tuoi Tre that he worked for one of the boats since last May and was arrested a month later.
Since his arrest, our family has fallen into debt and could not afford the cost for his return trip. We hope the authorities and the boat’s owner will support us. Tet is coming but we now have no money even to buy rice.
Seeking support from fund
After being reported about the capture, the provincial People’s Committee had worked with Vietnam’s Foreign Ministry and the boats’ owners to handle the incident and bring the fishermen home, said Cao Xuan Thu Van, acting chief of the Secretariat of the Committee.
The committee had thought that all the 48 fishermen would be sent back to Vietnam at the same time and did not know that 28 of them remained in Malaysia until their relatives reported, Van said.
The committee has asked the boat owners to make written commitments on payment of the cost of sending back the 28 fishermen to Vietnam. Based on the commitments, the ministry will ask the Overseas Vietnamese Protection Fund to transfer a sum to the Vietnamese Embassy in Malaysia to pay for air tickets for the fishermen, Van said.
After the fishermen returned to Vietnam, the boats’ owners would reimburse the Fund through the committee, she said.
The authorities are coordinating with the Foreign Ministry’s Consular Department and the Fund to carry out procedures necessary for repatriating the fishermen as soon as possible, she added.
VIETNAMNET Bridge