Foreign sailors remain stuck in TN

CHENNAI: Following a notice from the Madurai bench of the Madras high court to the Kanyakumari district collector in connection with the alleged illegal detention of eight foreign sailors, the district administration has replied that the seafarers were not held captive. However, the district police told TOI that they had confiscated the sailors' passports, making it impossible for them to leave the country.
MV Mirach was sailing from Vishakapatinam port to Karachi carrying iron ore when it hit a rock and sunk near the coast of Kanyakumari in the first week of April."The crew members have been accommodated in a hotel in Nagercoil by the owner's representatives under police protection," said the report filed by the Kanyakumari district collector.
The court issued the notice to the district administration following a petition by K Sreekumar, inspector of the International Transport Workers Federation (ITF) seeking the immediate release of sailors. The petition said the administration had illegally detained them for more than two months without registering a case. "They have not received their wages for more than four months. The continued detention and non-payment of wages have put their families in extreme hardship," said the petition.
D Jayasekaran, inspector of police, Manavalakurichi police station told TOI on Saturday that the passports of eight sailors were still with the police. Countering the district administration's argument, he said the documents were being kept at the district crime records bureau. "We have already released two sailors considering their bad health and 15 others were let off later. The passports of the remaining eight sailors will be returned when we get the order from higher officials," said Jayasekaran.
The Times of India first reported on May 21 the illegal detention of the foreign nationals for over a month with out producing them before a court or registering a case.
According to maritime experts, the detention is illegal and inhuman according to the guidelines of International Maritime Organisation (IMO) on fair treatment of seafarers especially during the event of an accident. It states that the port or coastal state should take steps to ensure that any investigation to determine the cause of a maritime accident is conducted in a fair and expeditious manner. The investigation should also keep the seafarers informed about the investigation.