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Five Merauke fishermen missing in PNG waters
Five Indonesian fishermen from Merauke have been reported missing after their boat was destroyed by Papua New Guinea (PNG) military personnel and forced to swim back to Merauke
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ive Indonesian fishermen from Merauke have been reported missing after their boat was destroyed by Papua New Guinea (PNG) military personnel and forced to swim back to Merauke.
'A joint military and police operation, in cooperation with local communities, are searching for the missing fishermen in the area where they were reportedly forced to swim back to Indonesian waters,' Papua Police spokesman Sr. Comr.Pudjo Sulistio said in Jayapura, Papua, on Sunday.
A group of 10 fishermen, who live in Kampung Lampu Satu, Merauke, reportedly set off on Thursday last week from Lampu Satu Beach to Kampung Kadawa in PNG in a 40 horsepower speedboat.
They were allowed to enter PNG waters after completing document and luggage checks at a naval marine post. Once in Karu waters, however, they were approached by three PNG military vessels.
The PNG security personnel checked the men's documents and proceeded to confiscate a sum of money, a box of cigarettes and two jerry cans of fuel.
The military personnel then set the speedboat alight and ordered the 10 fishermen to swim back to Merauke. Only five fishermen managed to reach the coast off Karu, which is also in PNG territory, while the other five men remain unaccounted for.
Two of the fishermen, Basik Basik Anthony and James Mahuze, made it back to Merauke a day later and reported the incident.
'The Papua provincial administration has sent a letter to the Indonesian Embassy in Port Moresby to report the incident. The embassy will send a team to Merauke to determine the cause of the incident and will report their findings to the PNG authorities,' Pudjo said. (ebf)
