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Before You Board: The Hidden Risks of Distant Water Fishing

Every year, thousands of Indonesians work as fishers on foreign boats, promised high wages for work abroad. However, the reality of life at sea can be very different from what is promised. Once onboard, fishers are routinely overworked, abused, and exploited.

Are you thinking of taking a job on a distant water fishing vessel? Watch out for these warning signs:

🚩 The recruitment agency doesn't have a valid licence or has a bad reputation. A company's SIUKAK/SIUPPAK permit can be found on the official Ministry of Transportation website, while its SIP3MI permit can be checked on the Ministry of KP2MI website.

🚩 The recruitment agency offers loans

Loans through banks or cash advances from companies are often used to pressure crew into accepting low salaries or prevent them from terminating their employment contracts.

🚩 Lack of transparency about salary

The recruitment agency receives crew's salary in advance before transferring it to their personal account. This creates an opportunity for companies to illegally "take a share" of crew's salary.

🚩 Retention of identity documents

Confiscation of passports, ID cards, family cards, and other personal documents controls migrant workers' movements while working.

🚩 Offered work on Chinese-flagged ships

Several human rights organisations have documented various human rights violations and allegations of forced labor against Indonesian migrant workers on Chinese-flagged ships.

(The footage used is illustrative and does not necessarily show the boats discussed by the fishers.)