The Koreas | Society | East Asia

Indonesians are sending due to a South Korean media channel after the station printed an in-depth investigation earlier this month into the deaths of a number of Indonesian crew members aboard a Chinese language fishing boat.

On Might 5, Korean broadcaster MBC published a report alleging abuse aboard fishing ships owned by Chinese language firm Dalian Ocean Fishing, Co. The report included video footage secretly taken by Indonesian employees displaying crew members throwing the physique of a deceased Indonesian man overboard.

Three Indonesian crew members had been thrown overboard after dying at sea, and one other died after arriving in South Korea, according to lawyer Jong-chul Kim, of the refugee and trafficking-focused group Advocates for Public Curiosity Regulation (Apil), who interviewed the Indonesian crew members whereas they had been in necessary 14-day quarantine in South Korea.  The boys who died all confirmed related signs, some for greater than a month earlier than their deaths, however weren’t taken to a hospital, Kim told the South China Morning Submit.

Nearly the entire residing crew members have since been repatriated dwelling to Indonesia.

The crew alerted South Korean authorities and MBC to the abuse after they landed in Busan in late April. After MBC’s report, the information started to unfold in South Korea. Along with being posted on MBC’s personal website, the broadcaster additionally uploaded the video on YouTube with Chinese language and Bahasa Indonesia subtitles, the place it has racked up greater than 7.1 million views and 62,000 feedback in quite a lot of languages.

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However the story actually took off after YouTuber Jang Hansol of Korea Reomit posted a video translating and explaining the MBC report in Bahasa Indonesia. His video, which has greater than 7.four million views, launched the difficulty to the Indonesian public and drew better consideration and strain for an official response to the incidents. The truth is, lots of the feedback on MBC’s video particularly talked about that they had been alerted to the difficulty as a result of they noticed it on Korea Reomit.

MBC acquired so many supportive feedback and questions from Indonesian netizens that the journalist who reported the unique story, Go Eun-Sang, posted a video answering questions from curious Indonesian commenters concerning the video and his reporting course of.

Amid this outpouring of consideration, on Might 10, Indonesian Overseas Minister Retno Marsudi formally addressed the difficulty, condemning the “inhuman” situations aboard the vessels in addition to the burials at sea of the three crew members who had died. She additionally mentioned that the Indonesian and Chinese language governments can be establishing a joint investigation into the corporate allegedly chargeable for these abuses.

Along with investigating this particular incident and ensuring these crew members obtain justice, supporters have additionally called for all events concerned — China, Indonesia, and South Korea, to forestall future tragedies by placing into power stricter nationwide and worldwide protections for employees, together with fishermen. Specifically, better protections for these within the fishing business are included within the Worldwide Labor Group’s Work in Fishing Convention, which has not been ratified by any of those three nations.