CWM

Defending fishermen's rights needs international co-operation, says missionary

Monday, 14 May 2007 00:00

Missionary working with Taiwanese fishermen Rev Zaidarzhauva is making a series of visits to seamen's centres across Indonesia to forge stronger links across national boundaries.

Speaking at the global missionary gathering in Indonesia in April he said that the work of helping fishermen has to cross national boundaries, because many of the problems that fishermen face happen in foreign waters.

He is making full use of his visit to Indonesia. After having visited Bali, he goes on to Jakarta, where he has an appointment with a maritime organisation to talk about fishing problems in Indonesia.

Taiwanese fishermen often fish in Indonesian waters. There are rules about where fishermen from each country may fish legally. There are harsh penalties for fishermen who stray out of their designated area.

Sometimes boats cross the boundaries unintentionally, sometimes the captains of the ships take a risk, and there have been cases of pirates chasing fishing boats across the boundaries. The fines bring in good money for the Indonesian authorities. The captains and crews are at risk of being detained, though in most cases the crew is set free.

Zaidarzhauva's next stop is Irian Jaya where he meets with the local church, Chinese churches and with the nearest seamen's centres. He will also meet local people in Bitung. "We want to have strong links with these people," he said. "We need to share information on detainees and how we can best help them."

Until now there has been no special link between the seamen's centres in Indonesia and Taiwan. "But we must have as much contact as we can with seamen's centres in other countries," he said.

Kenwyn Pierce