ID :
13836
Fri, 07/25/2008 - 21:13
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/13836
The shortlink copeid
NGO ACTIVIST: RI, AUSTRALIA SHOULD SET UP JOINT FISHING ZONE
Kupang, East Nusa Tenggara (NTT), July 25 (ANTARA) - Indonesia and Australia need to set up a joint fishing zone (JFZ) to minimize conflicts involving Indonesian fishermen and the Australian water police, according to an NGO activist.
Geographically, Timor Island and Darwin were very close, and historically the two countries' ancestors had always worked together closely and complemented each other, director of the West Timor Care Foundation (YPTB) Ferdi Tanoni said here on Friday.
"Given these facts, I opine the two countries should soon establish a JFZ to deal with or minimize problems involving Indonesian traditional fishermen whose livelihoods depend on fishing in the Timor Sea and surrounding areas," Tanoni said.
Tanoni, the author of a book titled "Timor Sea Scandal, A Canberra-Jakarta Economic Political Barter", had recently written a letter to Australian Northern Territory's Minister for Justice and Attorney General Dr Christopher Bruce Burns MLA concerning the Australian water police's brutality in treating Indonesian traditional fishermen, mostly from Kupang, who were fishing in Timor Sea waters.
According to him, there is a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Indonesia and Australia signed in 1974 on Indonesian traditional fishermen fishing in water territory claimed by Australia as its Fishing Zone.
"Indonesian traditional fishermen have been fishing in the waters for 450 years so our fishermen had made 'Gugusan Pulau Pasir' or what Australia calls 'Ashmore Reef' their second home," he said.
Therefore, Tanoni felt it was urgent to write to Dr Burns because hundreds or even thousands of Indonesian traditional fishing boats had been destroyed by Australian authorities without giving the fishermen any compensation.
Tanoni, who is also chairman of the working group on the Timor Gap, said if Australia was accusing Indonesian fishermen of serving as agents of illegal immigrants, Australia had to prove it.
He also urged the Australian authorities to stop intimidating Indonesian fishermen, among other things by forcing them to enter into Australian waters and later accused them as illegal poachers.
Intimidating traditional fishermen, and later punishing them and destroying their boats were human rights violations, he said.
To end those problems, he called for the establishment of a Joint fishing Zone between Australia and Indonesia.
Geographically, Timor Island and Darwin were very close, and historically the two countries' ancestors had always worked together closely and complemented each other, director of the West Timor Care Foundation (YPTB) Ferdi Tanoni said here on Friday.
"Given these facts, I opine the two countries should soon establish a JFZ to deal with or minimize problems involving Indonesian traditional fishermen whose livelihoods depend on fishing in the Timor Sea and surrounding areas," Tanoni said.
Tanoni, the author of a book titled "Timor Sea Scandal, A Canberra-Jakarta Economic Political Barter", had recently written a letter to Australian Northern Territory's Minister for Justice and Attorney General Dr Christopher Bruce Burns MLA concerning the Australian water police's brutality in treating Indonesian traditional fishermen, mostly from Kupang, who were fishing in Timor Sea waters.
According to him, there is a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between Indonesia and Australia signed in 1974 on Indonesian traditional fishermen fishing in water territory claimed by Australia as its Fishing Zone.
"Indonesian traditional fishermen have been fishing in the waters for 450 years so our fishermen had made 'Gugusan Pulau Pasir' or what Australia calls 'Ashmore Reef' their second home," he said.
Therefore, Tanoni felt it was urgent to write to Dr Burns because hundreds or even thousands of Indonesian traditional fishing boats had been destroyed by Australian authorities without giving the fishermen any compensation.
Tanoni, who is also chairman of the working group on the Timor Gap, said if Australia was accusing Indonesian fishermen of serving as agents of illegal immigrants, Australia had to prove it.
He also urged the Australian authorities to stop intimidating Indonesian fishermen, among other things by forcing them to enter into Australian waters and later accused them as illegal poachers.
Intimidating traditional fishermen, and later punishing them and destroying their boats were human rights violations, he said.
To end those problems, he called for the establishment of a Joint fishing Zone between Australia and Indonesia.
