14 detained Pinoys, 114 foreign fishermen charged in Myanmar

12/07/2009

YANGON — Myanmar has charged 128 foreign fishermen with violating immigration laws after they were arrested last month for illegal fishing, an official yesterday said.

The group, currently held in Yangon’s notorious Insein jail, was made up mostly of Indonesians and included 14 Filipinos, one Chinese and four Taiwanese, a senior official of the prison told Agence France Presse on condition of anonymity.

“Altogether 128 foreign fishermen, most of them Indonesians, were charged at Insein prison on Friday. They were charged under the immigration act,” the official added.

He said seven Myanmar fishermen arrested

with the group were also charged, but it was not immediately clear what charges they faced.

The foreigners were likely to be deported from the military-ruled country, he added, declining to give further details.

The fishermen were arrested last month from 10 illegal fishing vessels and sent to Insein prison for poaching in Myanmar’s waters — the country’s largest arrest for illegal fishing in decades, officials said.

A consular team from the Philippine Embassy in Yangon has twice visited the detained Filipinos, the country’s Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) said on its Web site.

It added the fishermen may face prosecution for violation of immigration laws which carries a penalty of imprisonment for up to three months, or payment of a fine not exceeding 200 Kyat ($30.72).

Under the law of the sea, a nation has the right to outline an exclusive economic zone stretching up to 200 nautical miles from its shores and claim the right to exploit the resources within that area.

Myanmar possesses a 2,229-km long coastline along the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea.

Meanwhile, the DFA also said three Filipino seafarers captured by ransom-seeking Somali pirates were finally released Thursday after six months in captivity.

The news of their release was relayed to the DFA by the local manning agency of the Antigua and Barbados-registered vessel, MV Charelle, which was hijacked on June 12, 2009 off the coast of Oman.

“The agency reported that the Filipinos are all in good health and that their repatriation is now being arranged by the vessel’s principal,” the DFA said. “They were released from captivity by pirates in Somalia in the afternoon of Dec. 3 after a prolonged and difficult negotiation.”

With this development, the number of Filipino seamen being held in Somalia was brought down to 67. The Filipino hostages are on board five vessels anchored on Somali waters.

The rest of the crew, consisting of seven Sri Lankans, were also released.

MV Charelle is now sailing for the closest safe port under the watch of a naval warship.

The owners of the vessel, meanwhile, thanked all the crew’s families “for their faith in the safe return of their loved ones, their strength throughout this ordeal, and for their support for the company.

The Philippines is the world’s leading supplier of ship crew with over 350,000 sailors, or about a fifth of the world’s seafarers, manning oil tankers, luxury liners and passenger vessels worldwide, exposing them to piracy attacks.

Since late 2008, more than 200 Filipino seamen have been abducted by ransom-seeking pirates off Somali waters.

As a policy, the Philippine government does not negotiate nor pay ransom to kidnappers, but gives ship owners the free hand in negotiating for the release of abducted Filipino sailors.

Michaela P. del Callar and AFP

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