Indonesia Prepares Discussion On ABK Issues Ahead Of Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi's Visit

JAKARTA - Indonesia will welcome Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Indonesia is preparing a discussion on the issue of protecting Indonesian citizens working on Chinese fishing vessels.

Wang Yi is scheduled to attend Jakarta this week. "I am sure that this issue will be raised by the Minister of Foreign Affairs (Retno) in a meeting with Wang Yi," said the Director General of Protocol and Consular Affairs of the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Andy Rachmianto, to reporters, Monday, June 11.

Andy explained that cases of abuse and legal violations experienced by many Indonesian crew members (ABK), even resulting in death, have become issues that have continued to be highlighted by Indonesia for the past six months. However, he regretted that these cases had not been handled optimally by the Chinese side.

In fact, Andy emphasized that efforts to strengthen the protection of Indonesian ABK citizens have become one of Indonesia's foreign policy priorities. "This is an important issue, don't be taken lightly if China wants to remain Indonesia's strategic partner. "China also has big interests in Indonesia, such as investment, the South China Sea, and others," said Andy.

In order to follow up on protection efforts, the government has repatriated quite a number of Indonesian crew members from Chinese-flagged fishing vessels. The repatriation of Indonesian citizens was carried out, among other things, through the handover process in the middle of the sea which was carried out in the waters of Bitung, North Sulawesi, in November 2020 which included 155 crew members and two bodies of crew members, as well as in Batam waters, Riau Islands, in December 2020 which included five crew members. and one body of ABK.

In addition to repatriation, the Indonesian government also encourages law enforcement of cases that have been and are being handled related to Indonesian ABK through a mutual legal assistance (MLA) mechanism, by cooperating with the Ministry of Law and Human Rights as a point of national concern.

"We hope that MLA with China will put pressure or pressure on China to be able to help resolve (legal cases), including the 90 crew members who are still detained on a number of Chinese ships," Andy emphasized.