28 Acehnese Fishermen Released After 10 Months Of Detention By Indian Authorities

Illustration of returning Aceh fishermen from India (Photo: ANTARA)

JAKARTA - A total of 28 fishermen from Aceh who were detained in Andaman India were finally released and arrived today, Friday, January 29 in Indonesia.

Deputy Secretary General of the Laot Aceh Commander, Miftach Tjut Adek, said that the 28 fishermen were previously arrested at a distance of 55 nautical miles from the mainland of the island of Nicobar by Indian coast guard police, Durgabai Deshmukh on March 3, 2020.

"With the advocacy from the Indonesian Embassy-Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Newdelhi and the hard work of the Aceh Government and the PSDKP-KKP RI they got an acquittal decision from the Andaman court on January 16, 2021 (10 months in detention)," he explained in Banda Aceh.

Based on information received from the Ministry of Marine Affairs and Fisheries (KKP) and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs (Kemenlu), before being returned to Aceh, they will undergo a medical examination in Jakarta first.

"Information from the KKP and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to 28 fishermen will have their health checked for several days before being sent back to Banda Aceh," he explained

He asked the Acehnese fishermen not to be caught because they crossed the territorial waters of other countries. Because it is necessary to do counseling, supervision and cooperation with neighboring countries so that fishermen can go to sea safely.

Miftach thanked the Governor of Aceh and the Central Government for working hard to advocate for these Acehnese fishermen so that they could quickly be released.

"During the past two years there have been 160 fishermen detained in three countries, namely Myanmar, India and Thailand. They were released quickly thanks to the care of the Aceh Government and the Central Government," said Miftach. With the returning 28 people, there are only 3 Acehnese fishermen who are still in India.