Get back our boats from Sri Lanka: Fishermen

Representatives of fishermen while addressing the meeting said that 139 boats of Tamil Nadu fishermen were held by the Lankan government and this had resulted in hardships to fishermen, who were fully dependent on their craft for a living. Among the 139 boats, six belonging to Thoothukudi fishermen and another two that were captured by Sri Lankan Navy before 2003 were not included on the list. Hence the union government should take steps immediately to release all the boats held by the Lankan Navy, demanded the fishermen.

Meanwhile, 15 fishermen from Kanniyakumari district who were arrested by the Iranian Navy for fishing near their waters had reached Chennai Airport on Friday morning. They were arrested in October, 2016, and had been in Iranian prison for more than 6 months. However, due to the efforts taken by International Fishermen Development Trust (INFIDET) the issue was taken to the notice of the Central government. They pressurised the Iranian government to release the fishermen. The Iranian government responded and agreed to release the fishermen on March 14. However, due to the extended holidays in Iran there was a delay in the release and finally they were taken to the Indian Embassy at Bahrain on Thursday from where they boarded flight to Chennai at midnight. They reached Chennai on Friday morning and later left for their native villages.