"This is the next batch after 105 were repatriated through Jakarta and there on to Yangon," Nanang Koesdaryanto, the head of the immigration office, stated here on Tuesday.
In the next two days, dozens more would be deported to their countries of origin after receiving their wages and resignation pay from the company they had worked with so far.
The crew members underwent a health checkup by a medical team provided by the IOM before they were taken to the Pattimura International Airport.
The pay received by the Myanmar crew from PT Sumber Laut Utama ranged from Rp5 million to Rp137 million and mostly from Rp7 million to Rp11 million.
An IOM official remarked that the organization was responsible for their deportation, and the company for their pay.
Following a fishing moratorium imposed by the government, the IOM has coordinated with the immigration office in Ambon and the Embassy of Myanmar to deport more than 600 Myanmarese citizens from Benjina on Aru Island, Tual, and the Southeast Maluku district.
Apart from crew members from Myanmar, there are also crew members from Laos and Cambodia. The number of boat crew members from Myanmar had been confirmed at more than 300.
Fredik Siahaya, an official from the immigration office in Ambon, stated that the office had sent three officials to accompany the crew members on their flight to Jakarta.(*)
Editor: Heru Purwanto
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