A video showing the body of a young man being callously thrown into the sea has sparked an international investigation, and shone a spotlight on the “slave-like” conditions allegedly suffered by Indonesian fishermen on board Chinese-owned vessels. This is the story of just two families, mourning sons and brothers who died trying to build a new life.
Sepri had never been to sea before, when he heard through a friend about the chance to work on a Chinese-owned fishing boat.
The promised money on offer was beyond anything the 25-year-old could dream of earning in his village on the Indonesian island of Sumatra.
“He was so enthusiastic about suddenly being able to earn such big money for us,” his sister Rika Andri Pratama remembers.
With the assurance of training and a $400 (£326) a month salary, he set sail with a group of 22 Indonesian men on the Long Xing 629 fishing vessel in February last year.
“Before he left, he borrowed some money from me,” says Rika.
“He said it would be the last time because he would come home with loads more and we could finally afford to renovate the family home.”
But Sepri never came home. No money was sent. And Rika didn’t speak to her brother again.
SOURCE – BBC
