Myanmar has freed four Taiwanese fishermen held in detention for more than a month for alleged illegal fishing, a Taipei official said yesterday, after a fine was paid to secure their release.
“The four are due to return to Taiwan later on Monday,” Ministry of Foreign Affairs Deputy Spokesman James Chang (章計平) said.
The four Taiwanese were among a group of 128 foreign fishermen, mostly Indonesians, charged with violating Myanmar’s immigration laws after 10 vessels entered the nation’s waters in the middle of last month.
The other 124 were also being released, Chang said.
Officials in Myanmar had earlier said the fishermen were arrested and sent to Insein prison for poaching, the country’s largest arrest for illegal fishing in decades.
Taiwanese businesspeople with investments in Myanmar helped the Ministry of Foreign Affairs to win the release of the four Taiwanese, Chang said, adding that the businesspeople paid the fine.
“The ministry’s representatives there visited the detainees several times to ensure they were being taken good care of,” Chang said.
Four Taiwanese vessels remained in Myanmar yesterday, and it was unclear if or when they could be returned, he said.
Under maritime law, a nation has the right to outline an exclusive economic zone stretching up to 200 nautical miles (379km) from its shores and claim the right to exploit the resources within that area. Myanmar has a 2,229km coastline along the Bay of Bengal and Andaman Sea.
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