Chief Minister M K Stalin demanded the prevention of further arrests and the immediate release of all detained fishermen and their fishing boats
Chennai: Earnestly urging the Union Government to take up the matter relating to the apprehension of two motorized country boats from Mayiladuthurai district by the Sri Lankan Navy on Wednesday through appropriate diplomatic channels, Chief Minister M K Stalin demanded the prevention of further such arrests and the immediate release of all detained fishermen and their fishing boats.
‘As on date, a total of 254 fishing boats belonging to Tamil Nadu and 90 fishermen, including those detained in the most recent incident, remain in Sri Lankan custody’ Stalin said in his letter to Union External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar.
He said that in the latest incident involving the apprehension of two motorized country craft, bearing registration numbers IND-TN-16-MO-4245 and IND-TN-16-MO-785, the 7 fishermen, who were taken into custody, were engaged in routine fishing activities
It was a matter of deep and continuing concern that the repeated apprehension of Tamil Nadu fishermen and the seizure of their fishing vessels by Sri Lankan authorities continued unabated and the frequent and recurring arrests had inflicted severe hardship on the coastal fishing communities.
The prolonged detention of fishermen and confiscation of their boats had caused chronic economic distress, emotional trauma and sustained anxiety among their families and the cumulative impact of these incidents had deeply disrupted the social and economic fabric of these vulnerable coastal regions, he said.
