Eight more rescued Cambodian fishermen were repatriated Tuesday from Indonesia’s Ambon Island, according to the Foreign Affairs Ministry, following the return of 230 others two weeks ago.
“The Cambodian Embassy in Indonesia has met with the Indonesian company PT.S & T Mitra Mina Industries, which is a representative of Thai boat owners, to manage and repatriate eight Cambodian laborers from Ambon Island,” ministry spokesman Chum Sounry said in the statement.
“On the demands of the Embassy, the company has offered the salaries to the eight Cambodian laborers.”
More than 300 Cambodian fishermen have been repatriated from Indonesia in the past two months—230 on June 18, the eight who returned Tuesday, and nearly 100 others from a separate island—following a moratorium on foreign fishing boats imposed by the Indonesian government in November in an effort to better regulate the unruly sector.
The moratorium forced Thai-captained boats to dock and, along with an investigation by The Associated Press, led to the discovery of thousands of migrant workers from Burma, Cambodia and Thailand forced to toil on the vessels.
