Sri Lanka to release 10 Indian fishing boats

The Sri Lankan Navy will soon release 10 Indian fishing boats, which were taken into custody in 2015 and 2016.

The Sri Lankan Government had sent a letter to the Indian External Affairs Ministry on 13 June stating that they were ready to release 10 boats, India Today reported.

Sri Lanka in 2017 released over 42 boats of the 216 boats that are in Sri Lankan custody. The fishermen were only able to retrieve 32 of the 42 boats as the remaining 10 were damaged beyond repair. The Government is releasing another 10 boats instead of the ones that were not retrieved in 2017.

A team of fishermen and salvage personnel headed by a fisheries official will be leaving for Sri Lanka in two days to bring back the boats.

The fishermen in the region are demanding that the remaining 174 boats in Sri Lankan custody must be released and added that each boat costs Rs. 8-10 lakh.

On 4 July, the Indo-Sri Lankan officials are to meet in Delhi and the Tamil fishermen are demanding that their issues be discussed. They also want their remaining boats to be released.

“We will go and check the boats in Sri Lanka but we demand that all our boats in the Sri Lankan custody be released,” said Jesuraj, a fishermen leader from Rameshwaram.

The Sri Lankan fishermen too are of the opinion that the boats in Sri Lankan custody either be disposed of or returned to Indian fishermen.

“These seized boats are docked in our shore and it is so difficult for us to go to the sea for fishing. The tied boats tend to move astray and hit the neighboring vessels, damaging the docked boats as well as ours,” said a Sri Lankan fisherman.