TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Indonesian Maritime Affairs and Fisheries Ministry works together with the Foreign Affairs Ministry, the Justice and Human Rights Ministry's Directorate General of Immigration, the Indonesian Navy, the Police, and Bakamla to deport 239 Vietnamese fishermen.

"Through intensive coordination between the Maritime Affairs Ministry and the Embassy of Vietnam in Jakarta, it was agreed that non-suspect fishermen should be deported to Vietnam," the ministry's acting director general of fisheries resources supervision Nilanto Perbowo said here on Wednesday.

The deportation was carried out from PSDKP Base of Batam, Riau Islands, on October 4.

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Nilanto said that the deported fishermen were captured during a number of operations held in order to combat illegal fishing activities in Indonesian waters.

These fishermen who are deported are not suspects, as they are just witnesses to the crime.

The fishermen previously lived in several temporary shelters such as the PSDKP Batam Base, the Natuna/Ranai SDKP Control Unit, the TNI Navy's Base in Ranai and Tarempa, the Natuna/Ranai Immigration Office, and the Immigration Detention House of Pontianak, among others.

In the deportation process, the Vietnamese government sent one Vietnamese Coast Guard ships to bring its citizens back to Vietnam.

This is the second deportation carried out this year. On June 9, the Indonesian authorities deported 695 Vietnamese fishermen from PSDKP Base Batam.

ANTARA