Fishermen rescued amid Indonesian slavery probe
Hundreds to be moved from isolated island
Hundreds of fishermen raced to be rescued Friday from the isolated Indonesian island where an Associated Press investigation found that many were enslaved to catch seafood that could end up in the United States and elsewhere.
Indonesian officials probing labor abuses told the migrant workers they were allowing them to leave for another island by boat out of concern for their safety. More than 300 fishermen emerged from nearby trawlers, villages and even the jungle to make the trip.
“I will go see my parents,” said Win Win Ko, 42, smiling to reveal a mouth full of missing teeth. “They haven’t heard from me, and I haven’t heard from them since I left.”
He left impoverished Myanmar four years ago on the promise of getting a good job in neighboring Thailand, but like many others stranded in the island village of Benjina, he was duped instead into getting on a fishing boat that took him thousands of miles from home with no return. He said his four teeth were kicked out by a Thai boat captain’s military boots because he was not moving fish fast enough from the deck to the hold below.
The Indonesian delegation began interviewing men on boats and assessing the situation on the island this week. They have heard of the same abuses fishermen told the AP about in a story published last week, which documented a company graveyard in Benjina and eight fishermen locked in a company cage.
The fishermen described being beaten, kicked and whipped with stingray tails and given Taser-like electric shocks. Some said they fell ill and were not given medicine; others said had been promised jobs in Thailand but instead were issued fake seafarer documents and taken to Indonesia, where they were made to work 20- to 22-hour days with no time off for little or zero pay.
The delegation said security in Benjina is limited, with only two Indonesian navy officials stationed there. The men crowded onto seven trawlers and will be moved to Tual over 24 hours. They are to stay at a Fisheries Ministry compound until their identities can be verified.
The International Organization for Migration said last week there could be as many as 4,000 foreign men, many trafficked or enslaved, who are stranded on islands surrounding Benjina following a fishing moratorium called by the Indonesian Fisheries Ministry to crack down on poaching.
Officials from Thailand visited the island earlier this week, but their trip was focused on finding Thai nationals who had been trafficked. They denied mistreatment on the boats and said the crews were all Thai, which directly contradicted what the Indonesians and the AP found.
The yearlong AP investigation used satellites to track seafood caught by the slaves from a large refrigerated cargo ship in Benjina to Thailand. The investigation linked the seafood to supply chains of some of America’s largest supermarkets and retailers.