21 fishermen from Tamil Nadu stranded in Iran

Kanyakumari: Twenty one fishermen from the southern districts of Tamil Nadu who went to fish to Iran are alleged to have been abandoned by their employer without their share of the total income as has agreed.

Contacting Rev Fr Churchill, general secretary of the South Asian Fishermen Fraternity (SAFF), one of the stranded fishermen, Kumar, son of Balthazar, who went fishing to Iran six months ago from the coastal hamlet of Puthanthurai in Kanyakumari district is reported to have stated that their Arabian employer Muhammed Sallah had sent all 21 Tamil fishermen-8 from Kanyakumari district, 7 from Tirunelveli district and 6 from Thoothukudi district, out of the rooms they were given for their stay on June 18. 

This was because the fishermen had asked for their dues that were not paid for the last three months as had been agreed earlier. Fr Churchill said, “The fishermen are now on the streets of Iran and no help from the Indian embassy at Bandar Abbas in Iran has reached them so far.”

The families of the stranded fishermen represented the issue to state government through their respective district administrations.  

Fr Churchill added that the South Asian Fishermen Fraternity had also petitioned the Tamil Nadu chief minister, the union external affairs ministry and the Indian embassy in Iran, seeking immediate steps to get back the abandoned fishermen from Iran.