As many as 56 fishermen from India have been detained by the Iran government authorities at the Pandher fishing harbour of Ikkish island in Iran, on charges that they have crossed the Iran international maritime border while fishing in the Qatar Sea since October 10 . Among them, 10 are from Thiruvananthapuram and 46 Tamil Nadu.
“The fishermen follow their mobile signals to identify the country border. Sometimes, it will be confusing at the border. Usually, any fisherman who would be caught for crossing the border will be released within two days after investigation. But our fisherfolk have been under custody for 28 days now,” Fr Churchil, general secretary of South Asian Fishermen Fraternity (SAFF), said on Tuesday.
Fr Churchil said the fishermen had not been provided food and proper care. “The innocent fishermen are physically and mentally tortured and are kept in the fishing boat for the past 28 days. They should either be produced in a court of law or released immediately,” he said. The situation has not changed though the Qatar state coordinators of SAFF, Thangan and Elias, had met Indian Embassy officials in Doha besides contacting the government of Iran regularly, he said.
The outfit has submitted a memorandum to chief minister Oommen Chandy, requesting him to contact the Union government and ensure the release of the fishermen. “We had asked the Centre to sign a bilateral treaty with Gulf countries to support such fishermen and issue IDs to those fishing off Gulf countries,” he said.
2012 Bennett, Coleman & Co. Ltd.