Indian fishermen stranded in Myanmar to fly back on Oct 7, families question delay

The rescue operation to bring back the nine Chennai fishermen who are stranded in Myanmar has suffered a setback yet again. The Tamil Nadu Minister for Fisheries D Jayakumar said that the fishermen will only be brought back to Chennai on October 7 due to unfavourable weather conditions in Myanmar whereas the expected date was Monday. The families of the fishermen have raised suspicions over the reason for the delay and demanded that the government expedite the rescue operation.

The nine fishermen went missing from the coast of Chennai and were rescued from the shores of Myanmar after 55 days of search operation. The motor of the boat had stopped functioning, leaving the fishermen stranded at sea without food and water. The fishermen finally reached Myanmar based on the wind direction.

Later, one of the fishermen named Babu went missing in Myanmar after he allegedly jumped into the sea along with another fisherman to address a rescue call. Minister Jayakumar said, “The search operations to find fisherman Babu who went missing due to an unpleasant incident are continuing.”

The Minister said that the eight other fishermen will be brought back in Vande Bharat flights on October 7. “Efforts were taken to bring back the fishermen through the Vande Bharat mission via Delhi on September 28. However, due to bad weather conditions prevailing in Myanmar, the fishermen will be brought back to Chennai via Delhi on October 7,” he said.

Despite the Minister’s assurance, the families of the nine fishermen alleged that weather cannot be the only reason for the delay. They also urged the government to expedite the efforts to bring the men home.

Following the announcement by the Minister, the families of fishermen met officials of the Fisheries Department on Tuesday and urged them to expedite the rescue. A relative of one of the stranded fishermen said, “Following this, Member of Parliament Kalanidhi Veeraswamy visited our families. Everyone says that there is a storm but how can a storm affect the air route to this extent? It’s anyway a short distance flight, so why haven’t they rescheduled within this month?”  

The relative added, “My uncle is unable to reveal their exact situation since the people around them can understand Tamil. From what we could make out, they are not getting proper food and have been moved to a hall from the shore.”

Babu’s cousin also raised suspicions about the circumstances under which he went missing. “Babu travelled for 55 days mostly without food, he almost risked his life to reach the shore. Now authorities say he might be dead, which is unacceptable to us. The exact reason for his death will be known only after the remaining fishermen reach Chennai. However, this incident has pushed them into depression.”

Bharathi, leader of the South Indian Fishermen Welfare Association, said, “The Indian government should receive the fishermen promptly. Coronavirus cases are increasing in Myanmar. The government should form a separate team to bring back the fishermen stranded in the coasts of other countries.”

“Instances of fishermen reaching other coasts have become routine. Since the government expects the same team to find and rescue them, they consider this as one among the other cases. However, it’s not the same for the family members who are waiting here for days,” he added.