19 Acehnese fishermen held in India

19 Acehnese fishermen held in India

BANDA ACEH, Aceh: At least 19 Acehnese fishermen are being detained by immigration authorities in the Andaman and Nicobar islands -- administered by India, but physically closer to Aceh -- for trespassing.

"We have yet to receive an official notification on the fate of the Acehnese fishermen," secretary of Aceh's customs and legal office, M. Adli Abdullah, said on Tuesday.

He said that not all of them had meant to trespass into Indian waters, but some of them unintentionally did so after their boats suffered engine trouble and drifted.

"If this is true, we ask the government to help secure their release as was done by the Indonesian embassy in Yangon," he said referring to a previous incident with Myanmar.

The embassy recently managed to help free 19 wayward Indonesian fishermen, who had been jailed by Myanmar for seven to eight months. --Antara