by Melani Manel Perera

For three months they have been held in prison on the Archipelagos in the Bay of Bengal. They were arrested for having violated Indian territorial waters. Families appeal to Colombo to put pressure on New Delhi for their release.

Colombo (AsiaNews) – The families of 51 fishermen are concerned for the fate of the group arrested three months ago in the Indian archipelagos of the Andamane and Nicobare islands.  They were stopped March 8th last by coastal authorities and taken into custody along with their 9 boats.  Since then there has been no news of their outcome, and New Delhi has yet to make a decision.

 

The 51 fishermen are accused of violating Indian territorial waters.  The arrest and confiscation of Sri Lankan fishing crews and vessels is common.  The islands fishing fleets claim they are forced abroad in search of fish because of low stocks in national waters. Noel Fernando, a skipper from Barudelpola, states "We know the danger of going to the Andaman Islands. We are playing with our lives in order to bring the fish to Sri Lanka”.

 

Herman Kumara, general secretary of the World Forum of Fisher People (Wffp), says they should be released in accordance with the intergovernmental agreement laid out in the Bay of Bengal Program (Bobp) between India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh and the Maldives. Already on May 19th Colombo and New Delhi claimed they had “completed the formalities for their release”, and yet the 51 remain on the Andamane.

 

The families are increasingly worried and are appealing to Colombo to put pressure on India for the release of the men.   Swarna Kanthi (see photo), the wife of one of the arrested men and mother of two small children tells AsiaNews: “There is no one to help us when we are in a difficulty. Earnings from fishing cover the basic needs of our families. But, we can not depend on anyone; all we want is to live with dignity”.

 

• sri
• lanka
• fishermen
• poverty
• arrest
• release
• bay
• of
• bengal
• india