‘We lived in constant fear’: Five Tamil Nadu fishermen return after 8 months in Oman

NAGERCOIL: After spending nearly six months confined to a harbour in Oman, five Tamil Nadu fishermen returned home on Wednesday, recounting how they lived in constant fear of arrest, struggled for food and went without proper sleep after being left without valid visas or work permits.

The five fishermen Sorna Joshua and Alex Ravi of Keezha Muttom, Robin George and Thomas Arul of Kovalam, all in Kanniyakumari district, and Mariappan Jetli of Ramanathapuram district had travelled to Oman after an agent based in Kovalam allegedly promised them a monthly salary of Rs 1 lakh.

“The agent, Pithalis, was a boat captain. We believed his words and went to Oman on January 21 on a tourist visa,” said Robin George (49) of Kovalam.

Pithalis allegedly promised to convert their tourist visas into work visas within a month. However, after they started working on a private fishing boat in Oman, he did not fulfil the promise, the fishermen alleged.

"Pithalis made us work nearly 15 hours a day, from 7 am. I had gone to Oman hoping to earn enough money to conduct the marriages of my two sisters,” Joshua said.

When the fishermen repeatedly demanded that Pithalis arrange work visas for them, he allegedly collected their passports and handed them over to the boat owner, according to George.

“From then on, life became hell for us. We could not leave the harbour because we feared that the Oman police would arrest us as we did not have valid documents,” he said. “We struggled even for food and lived literally like slaves,” said Sorna Joshua.

When they continued to press Pithalis for work visas, he allegedly forced them to leave the job. With the help of other Tamil fishermen in the harbour, the five managed to get food and later found work on other boats.

The fishermen also subsequently helped them contact P Justin Antony, president of the International Fishermen Development Trust (INFIDET), who immediately wrote to the Indian Embassy in Oman, Prime Minister Modi and the Ministry of External Affairs on August 16.

Later, the Indian Embassy intervened and provided accommodation for the fishermen for two months before arranging for their return to Tamil Nadu.

The Oman authorities had imposed a fine of around Rs 1.20 lakh on each fisherman for their illegal stay, Antony said. The Indian Embassy subsequently negotiated with the Omani authorities and the fines were waived, he added.

After returning to Kanyakumari, the five fishermen submitted a petition to the District Collector seeking action against the agent, whom they alleged had not paid them the promised salary and similarly cheated several other fishermen. They noted that only around Rs 2 lakh was deposited into an account that their families in India could access.