Arrested, 2 Teenage Fishermen From Aceh Returned From Thailand

Mujiburrahman and Muhammad Nazar (center) take a photo with BPPA staff at Soekarno-Hatta Airport, Tangerang, Saturday (28/5/2022) (ANTARA/HO/BPPA)

BANDA ACEH - Two underage fishermen from East Aceh were repatriated to Aceh after being released by Thai authorities. The two were previously caught along with 17 other fishermen in Thai waters in January 2022.

"Two underage fishermen from East Aceh who were repatriated from Thailand have arrived in Aceh, at around 14:00 WIB," said Deputy Secretary General of Panglima Laot Aceh, Miftach Tjut Adek, in Banda Aceh, quoted by Antara, Saturday, May 28.

The two underage fishermen are residents of Gampong Kuala Peudawa Puntong, Idi Rayeuk District, East Aceh, namely Mujiburrahman (17) and Muhammad Nazar (13).

Previously, the two fishermen were arrested along with 17 other fishermen from East Aceh by the Thai navy for crossing the country's maritime territorial limits on January 28, 2022.

They used two fishing boats, namely KM Sinar Makmur 05 (14 crew members) and KM Happy 05 (5 crew members). Arrested in waters west of Phuket about 38.5 NM from the coast, and charged with violating the Immigration Act and Fisheries Act.

Meanwhile, Head of the Aceh Government Liaison Agency (BPPA) in Jakarta, Almuniza Kamal, said that before being sent back to Aceh, the two were under their supervision and were first being kept at the Kutaraja Hotel in Jakarta.

Before being sent back to their hometown, both of them had done a PCR test. This is to ensure that you don't get infected with the corona virus.

Almuniza explained, on May 3, 2022, the Phuket District Court had conducted a trial in the case of the two children, and considering that they had never violated Thai law, both were sentenced to probation.

"Both of them have shown good behavior so far, and have a long future. The court only handed down a fine of TB 50,000 (fifty thousand Thai baht) each by waiting for a probationary period of one year," said Almuniza.

Almuniza stated that during this one year probationary period, if both of them re-offended, the case would be re-examined according to Thai law.

"Hopefully they will not repeat it again. So that there will be no more violations of the law," he said.

Representing the Government of Aceh and the people of Aceh, Almuniza thanked KRI Songkhla, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Directorate for the protection of Indonesian citizens and BHI, and other elements.

"We thank everyone for helping to take care of the repatriation of these Acehnese fishermen," said Almuniza.