(MENAFN- The Journal Of Turkish Weekly) Indonesia began moving 319 foreign fishermen from a remote island Saturday - many of whom claim to have been enslaved to catch seafood for international markets.
The head of the local Directorate General of Marine Resources and Fisheries Control said that 253 fishermen from Myanmar, 58 from Cambodia, and eight from Laos were being taken on two navy ships from the Benjina village on Aru island in eastern Indonesia.
"It's probable they will arrive on the neighboring Tual Island on Sunday afternoon," Mukhtar - many Indonesian use one name - told The Anadolu Agency.
He added that a group of fishermen from Thailand will temporarily remain on the Island.
Upon arrival in Tual, the directorate will coordinate with immigration authorities to process their repatriation to their home country, he said.
The workers say they were beaten, locked in cells and forced to work unpaid, some for around 10 years.
Indonesian authorities and a delegation from the Thai government is currently conducting a investigation into fishing company PT Pusaka Benjina Resources, which allegedly enslaved the workers, according to Metro TV.
Some of the fishermen have testified that they were beaten, forced to work almost nonstop without clean water or proper food, paid little or nothing and prevented from going home.
The report said that the delegation had visited a number of locations since Thursday, including areas where they were forcibly detained, a ship belonging to the company, and the grave of 77 fishermen from Thailand.
PT Pusaka Benjina Resources Site Manager Hermanwir Martino has denied that slavery took place on the island.
"The fishermen died because of various causes, not because of forced work or slavery," Metro TV reported him saying.
"They died because of a work accidents, or because they fell into the sea when they were drunk and fighting," he said.
Last week, the International Organization for Migration said 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.
Indonesia has some of the world's richest fishing grounds, and the government estimates billions of dollars in seafood are stolen from its waters by foreign crews every year.
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