REPUBLIKA.CO.ID, JAKARTA -- The Ministry of Maritime Affairs and Fisheries (KKP), in collaboration with the Consulate General in Penang, Malaysia, will repatriate six fishermen of North Sumatra who were arrested by Malaysia.

"The six fishermen were arrested by the Malaysian marine security forces in March and April 2016, for alleged violation of fishing norms in the territorial waters of Malaysia," said the Ad interim Director General of Marine Resources and Fishery of KKP, Sjarief Widjaja, in a release here on Wednesday.

The six repatriated fishermen arrived at the Kuala Namu Airport, North Sumatra, on July 27, 2016. They are: Sibas (32), Samson (31), Iqbal (27), Asandi (29), Ismail (34) and Safrizal (30).

They hail from Batubara Regency and Langkat, North Sumatra Province.

Sjarief argued that the steps taken by the KKP, in coordinaton with the Consulate General of the country concerned and the relevant agencies in these countries were aimed at ensuring expeditious repatriation of these fishermen to the Republic of Indonesia.

So far, the KKP, working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, has managed to repatriate a total of 100 Indonesian fishermen arrested abroad.

These included 65 people who were repatriated from Malaysia, 28 from Australia, and seven people repatriated from Thailand.

In addition, the KKP has also been taking action to preempt such occurrences by providing guidance and educating fishermen about fishing grounds in Indonesia.

In case any fishermen are caught in other countries, the KKP proactively cooperates with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, in particular with the Indonesian Missions abroad, to seek repatriation of fishermen.

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