The first thing one notices about Aung Soe is his smile. The 28-year-old fisherman appears so happy that there is no indication about his being trapped in a police station in the State for nearly eight months now, with no nation to which he belongs to.
Mr. Soe was one of the members of Prantalay 12, the Thai fishing vessel that was hijacked by Somali pirates. He managed to jump out of the vessel and reach the Indian Navy patrol vessel INS Krishna. The Navy personnel could not fully understand what he said and so did not intercept the seized vessel, Soe recollects in his broken English. He was brought to the Harbour Police Station here on December 7, 2010.
Later on, the Navy rescued Prantalay 11 and Prantalay 14 from the pirates. Fishermen rescued from these vessels were brought to Mumbai and deported. Soe, however, who was picked up from about 460 nautical miles off Kalpeni island of the Lakshadweep, remained here.
All that policemen at the Harbour station could make out of Mr. Soe's tale is that his family had migrated from Myanmar to Thailand when he was four years old. But he does not have any document to link him to any of these nationalities. He later lost his immediate family in Thailand and there is no one else in the country to claim him.
The police officials, desperate for getting clear information about his family, tried to communicate with him through the wife of a Navy officer, who speaks Thai, and later through a chef at a star hotel. They also managed to get in touch with the Thai Embassy in Chennai. At the diplomatic dead-end, the policemen lost hope.
Those at the Harbour Station are now worried about the young man, who at times slips into spells of depression. “He makes no attempt to learn Malayalam, and even watches TV after muting the sound. He is so undemanding that we have to remind ourselves to get him food on time,” says one of the police officials at the station.
“Police…here…friends,” is all Soe has to say about his hosts at the Harbour police station. He goes out for occasional walks up to the north end of Willington Island, beyond which the backwaters lead to the endless sea. Somewhere out there, his friends might have returned for fishing. He is not sure. “Hey Soe!” calls out a shop owner outside the police station, as he strolls out. Soe smiles back.
