Photo shows officials transferring the body of an Indonesian crew member found on board
Jakarta:
The frozen body of an Indonesian was found on board a detained Chinese fishing boat, authorities said on Thursday, adding that they suspected a criminal act of the death of the crew member.
Indonesian police said they intercepted two boats in the Strait of Malacca this week after being informed that a crew member had died on one of the ships.
The 20-year-old may have been tortured and his body has been kept in a Lu Huang Yuan Yu 117 freezer since late June, said Riau Province police spokesman Harry Golden Hart.
“The victim suffered physical injuries, but we are carrying out an autopsy to determine the cause of death,” he told AFP.
Dozens of crew members from China, Indonesia and the Philippines were interviewed about the man’s death.
Anti-trafficking experts say the fishing industry is riddled with forced labor and that exploited workers can face non-payment, overwork, violence and death.
Indonesia and Southeast Asia are the main sources of this workforce and unscrupulous brokers target the poor and the uneducated with promises of good wages at sea.
In June, two Indonesian crew members jumped off a Chinese boat to escape what they termed abuse and horrible conditions.
They were later rescued by an Indonesian fishing boat and police said Thursday that they had arrested nine people for the abuses.
A month earlier, three dead Indonesian crew members had been thrown into the sea in a Chinese-flagged vessel.
Jakarta later said it had been informed that the men had died of illness, while Beijing described the burials at sea as being in accordance with international law.
(This story has not been edited by GalacticGaming staff and is automatically generated from a syndicated feed.)
