News
SL fishermen to protest to SLHRC over Indian backtracking
View(s):Fisher groups from the north and east and the Puttalam District are to lodge a strong protest with the Sri Lanka Human Rights Commission (SLHRC) early next week after the Indians arbitrarily broke off from an agreement and have returned to poaching in large numbers in the Palk Bay Sugath Emmanuel, Secretary of the Puttalam District Fisheries Federation (PDFF) told the Sunday Times that under the agreement endorsed in Chennai on January 26 this year the Indians had pledged to stay away from the Palk Bay for a period of one month until a solution to the crisis could be found.
Fisher representatives from the North, East and Puttalam at the National Union of Seafarers Sri Lanka (NUSS) office on Lauries Road Bambalapitiya on Friday
However they violated this agreement at the start of this month and have returned to the Palk Bay in large numbers despite the threat of arrest by the Sri Lankan Navy, Mr. Emmanuel said.“The decision to go before the SLHRC was because all other options have been exhausted and the local fishermen are being deprived of their livelihood that has affected thousands of families,” he said.
According to N. Ponnambalam, President of the Jaffna District Rural Fisheries Oraganisation Federation (JDRFOF) the first person to break the agreement was Tamil Nadu Fisheries Minister K. A. Jeyapal.Reliable information provided from sources across the Palk Bay reported Mr. Jeyapal had sent a fleet of 15 mechanised fishing vessels owned by him into the area followed by hundreds of others, he said.
He added that Mr. Jeyapal was among 10 regional officials who were involved in the January 27 talks with their Sri Lankan counterparts when the agreement was signed.He said that the next round of talks between the two sides is scheduled for Thursday in Colombo but the local fishermen have lost all confidence in discussions and are urging the Government to implement some sort of action.
“For our part we have advocated the confiscation of the Indian vessels that are apprehended with the release of the crew since the biggest offenders are the wealthy boat owners in Chennai while the poor fishermen have to languish in jail.If this is implemented to the fullest there will be lesser Indian vessels as the owners will not risk their boats owing to the losses involved. It is the Indian boat owners that should be forced to face the consequences and not the ordinary fishermen who are paid a pittance for their services,” Mr. Ponnambalam said.
Meanwhile the International Transport workers Federation (ITF) and the National Union of Seafarers Sri Lanka (NUSS) has pledged to assist the fisher groups towards their goal. NUSS President Palitha Atukorale said that if the protest to the SLHRC does not meet with success, the matter will be taken up with the Supreme Court.
“These people have a fundamental right to earn their livelihood and when this is deprived the court is obliged to intervene on their behalf’, Mr. Atukorale added. The ITF and the NUSS are trade unions that look into interest of local sea workers that include fishermen and seafarers.
Among the fisher groups set to go before the SLHRC are the PDFF, JDRFOF, the Co-operative Federation of Poonakaryn (CFP), Mannar District Fisheries Co-operative Society (MDFCS), Mannar District Fisheries Federation (MDFF), the Killinochchi District Fisheries Federation (KDFF) and the Jaffna District Fisheries Federation (JDFF).