TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - The Ministry of Foreign Affairs will demand the responsibility of the manning agency who provided Indonesian ship crews who fall victim to slavery and exploitation on board a Chinese fishing ship. The crews were suspected to be subjected to torture and died.

"The party who recruited the ship crews in Indonesia will also be held responsible," said the Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman Teuku Faizasyah when contacted by Tempo on Wednesday, May 6, 2020.

According to Faizasyah, there are four Indonesian ship crews who died on board the ship. One crew died in South Korea while three others died at sea. Faizasyah however, was reluctant to say that the bodies of the three crews sere thrown out to sea. Instead, Faizasyah said that it was a 'burial at sea', which procedures have been regulated by ILO (International Labor Organization) Seafarer's Service Regulation.

In addition, Faizasyah said that the Indonesian Embassy in Seoul and Beijing will be handling issues concerning the rights of the Indonesian ship crew. Faizasyah said that the issue is being handled by Indonesian representatives in three different countries, namely New Zealand, China, and South Korea.

"The Indonesian Embassy in Wellington, because the body was buried in waters under the Indonesian Embassy in News Zealand's work jurisdiction. The Indonesian Embassy in Beijing will follow up with the Chinese government and the Indonesian Embassy in Seoul will handle the Indonesian ship crews, including the repatriation of some of them to Indonesia," Faizasyah said.

Previously, a video containing the testimony of several Indonesian ship crews claiming to receive inhumane treatment aboard a Chinese fishing ship. They said they were not provided proper water to drink and forced to work long hours. A part of the video showed a foreign ship crew dropping out the body of an Indonesian ship crew to sea.

EGI ADYATAMA