MEA rescues 21 TN fishermen from Iran

Twenty-one fishermen from Tamil Nadu, who were stranded in Iran for about six months without salary, food and accommodation, arrived here on Saturday.

Upon their arrival, they were taken to their native districts by the Fisheries department, which arranged for vans to send them home. One of the fishermen thanked the government and urged the state to extend help so that they can start their occupation in their home towns.

The fishermen had gone to Iran a year ago to take up fishing on a “share-in-income” arrangement with a firm as it was not so remunerative back home, International Fishermen Development Trust president P Justin Antony said. However, they were not paid for about six months and their travel documents were taken away by the firm, Antony had alleged.

Tamil Nadu chief minister K Palaniswami had on June 21 urged Prime Minister Narendra Modi to direct the Indian embassy in Iran to take the necessary steps for bringing back the stranded fishermen. On July 31, External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj tweeted, “I am happy to inform that 21 Indian fishermen from Tamil Nadu who were stranded at Nakhitaghi (Iran) have been released with the efforts of Indian Embassy in Iran and our Consulate at Bandar Abbas. We are repatriating them to Chennai in batches starting from 3rd August 2018 (sic).”

CHENNAI: