The National Fishworkers’ Forum and the Kerala Swathanthra Matsya Thozhilali Federation have appealed to Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan to intervene to bring back 24 fishers jailed in Qatar allegedly for illegal entry into the country’s waters.
In an appeal sent to the Chief Minister, the fishworkers’ forum said that 24 fishworkers, four of them from Kerala and the rest from Tamil Nadu, had set out from Iran on a fishing venture. However, they were arrested by the authorities in Qatar allegedly for violating the borders and jailed after they were imposed a fine of 50,000 Qatar riyals. They were, however, released from jail after their sponsor paid the fine.
The fishers’ union said the State should step in and involve the Indian Embassy in Qatar to repatriate the fishers. The Keralite fishers in the group were identified as Poovar native Sebastian, 20; Silva Dasan, 33, from Adimalathura; Stephen, 42, from Pallithottam in Kollam district; and Lephus, 42, from Moothakkara. These fishers had set out on the fishing venture from Iran in March this year.
