Fishermen held by British Navy back in Kochi

December 21, 2014 02:28 am | Updated 02:28 am IST - NAGERCOIL:

Ninety-six fishermen from Tamil Nadu, Kerala and Assam, who were allegedly detained by the British Navy on December 11 near Diego Garcia, an island under the control of the British government, reached the Kochi fishing harbour on Saturday morning, say NGOs.

Fr. Churchil, general secretary, South Asian Fishermen Federation (SAFF), said the fishermen had escaped through the South African international waters, instead of their regular route, to avoid further confrontation.

The fishermen, along with their seven boats, were rounded up by the British Navy on December 11 at gunpoint and taken to Diego Garcia. Soon after they reached the island, all their documents were confiscated by the British Navy.

The fishermen managed to escape when the British Navy personnel left the island for a while because of strong winds, said P. Justin Antony, president, Tamil Nadu Fishermen Development Trust.

“We got information that the 96 fishermen and the seven boats reached Kochi this morning. It was conveyed to us by Bibin, one of the detained fishermen from Thoothoor,” Mr. Antony said in an e-mail confirmation.

The fishermen are now heading for their native coastal village of Thoothur in Kanyakumari district, Fr. Churchil said.

He said a batch of 14 fishermen arrested by the British Navy near the same island on December 5 was released.

0 / 0
Sign in to unlock member-only benefits!
  • Access 10 free stories every month
  • Save stories to read later
  • Access to comment on every story
  • Sign-up/manage your newsletter subscriptions with a single click
  • Get notified by email for early access to discounts & offers on our products
Sign in

Comments

Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.

We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of The Hindu and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.