Indonesian fishermen briefed on Australian waters
Updated
Indonesian fishermen being held in an Australian detention centre have been given a briefing with maps as to where they can legally fish, a week after 55 fishermen were returned home when the Australian Government acknowledged they had been wrongly detained.
Presenter: Nasya Bahfen
Speakers: Harbangan Napitupulu, the Indonesian Consul in the Australian city of Darwin.
BAHFEN: The maps show where Indonesian fishermen can legally fish. They were part of a briefing by AFMA, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority. The map tries to overcome the problems faced by Indonesian fishermen who make their living in the Arafura and Timor Seas north of Australia.
Last week 105 were returned home after the Australian government admitted they'd been wrongly detained. They were among 240 fishermen who had been apprehended by Australian authorities in April in the Timor Sea.
But the problem might not be a simple matter of navigation. I spoke to Harbangan Napitupulu, the Indonesian Consul in the city of Darwin, the capital of Australia's Northern Territory. He says many of the fishermen don't understand the legal process behind the policing of Australian territorial waters.
NAPITUPULU: We have maps which is agreed between the two countries. While most of the Indonesian fishermen don't have the knowledge that beyond the boundaries the Australians have the right to exercise the seabed line.
BAHFEN: Do you think the fishermen will be able to understand these maps and be able to sort of navigate I guess their locations?
NAPITUPULU: It seems the problem rooted in the socialisations of these maps. That's why AFMA has done a kind of socialisation process in eastern Indonesia, especially in the place where most of the Indonesian fishermen came from, in Nusa Tenggara Timor, and also in south Sulawesi. From what I gather from the fishermen, especially the one from south Sulawesi they normally use the map which is commonly sold in their area. The map itself doesn't mention about this arrangement between the two countries.
BAHFEN: Indonesian and Australian authorities patrol the Arafura Sea together. But Mr Napitupulu says there needs to be more joint patrols in other areas used by the Indonesian fishermen.
NAPITUPULU: It seems to me that since the authorities from the two countries have been cooperating and making a kind of coordinated patrol activities in Arafura Sea it seems that they have to also cooperate in areas where mostly the Indonesian fishermen have been apprehended recently, especially in the month of April. So they do not just cooperate in the Arafura Sea, but also widen their cooperation area into Timor Sea.
BAHFEN: Some of the remaining fishermen in detention in Australia believe they were wrongfully apprehended. Their case is still before the courts.
