Seven Kanniyakumari fishermen held in Dubai

The seven fishermen were identified as Mellur Jarom, Alphone Maria John, Chinnappan Johnson, Ramaseyan Arun Singh. all four from Kurumbanai village, John Bosco Ananth, Gunaseelan Jehiskhan, both from Colachel, and Sahaya Raj from Azhithurai village in Kanniyakumari district.

According to sources, all the seven are working for a private company at Qatar. They had ventured into the sea on Jan 18 and were arrested on the midnight of Jan 19 by Dubai Navy for allegedly fishing in their territorial waters. The fishermen are now in Dubai but there has been no communication to their families.

However, fishermen associations in Kanniyakumari demanded the state and Central governments to release the arrested fishermen. Justin Antony, Founding President, International Fishermen Development Trust, said even for fishermen here, it is difficult to ascertain the Sri Lankan maritime border, despite fishing in the area for several years and they accidentally cross over the region.

“Similarly, it is even more difficult for Kanniyakumari fishermen, working in Qatar, to be aware of the maritime boundary between Qatar and Dubai. Therefore, I request the government to take action at the earliest,” he said. When the matter was taken up with the Indian Ambassador at Qatar and also with the Labour Officer at Indian Embassy in the UAE, Sumathi Vasudev, they had assured him of action and to release the seven arrested fishermen at the earliest.