(COLOMBO) – Another group of 19 Indian fishermen detained by the Sri Lanka Navy for alleged poaching in the Sri Lanka’s territorial waters were on Tuesday repatriated to India, the Indian High Commission in Colombo said.
Tuesday’s release comes barely a week after a same number of Indian fishermen were released by the Sri Lankan authorities and allowed to leave for India.
The Sri Lankan Navy for this year alone had arrested 178 Indian fishermen along with 23 trawlers for alleged poaching in the country’s territorial waters.
The alleged poaching by Indian fishermen in Sri Lankan waters has remained a festering issue between Colombo and Delhi and despite several rounds of talks between the two countries over the past many years the matter remains unsolved to date.
The recent release of the 38 Indian fishermen comes amidst a row over a tiny island known as Katchatheevu located on the Sri Lankan side of the International Maritime Boundary Line (IMBL).
India’s ruling BJP Government has repeatedly blamed the Congress Party for ceding the tiny island to Sri Lanka in 1974.
The Palk Strait, a narrow strip of water separating Tamil Nadu from Sri Lanka, is a rich fishing ground for fishermen from both countries.
The Sri Lankan fishing community in the north of the island and made up of mainly ethnic Tamils have constantly complained that the Indian poachers were robbing them of their rightful livelihood and have urged Colombo to take drastic action to stem the menace.
Sri Lanka’s Fisheries Minister and former Tamil militant Douglas Devananda has even called for the setting up of a ‘sea guard’ unit made up of local fishermen to assist the navy in their operations against the Indian poachers.
