Fisherfolk in Jaffna launch hunger strike demanding resolution to Indian poaching issue

by Rukshana
Mar 19, 2024

The Jaffna District Federation of Fisheries Co-operative Unions has launched a hunger strike today demanding that the Sri Lankan government offer a lasting solution to the protracted Indian fisherfolk poaching issue. 

The protestors are presently in front of the St. John Bosco Vidyalayam in Jaffna. They had intended to launch the hunger strike in front of the Indian consulate in Jaffna but police asked that they be moved away from the consulate premises. 

This past week alone, the Sri Lanka Navy has arrested 36 Indian fishermen for poaching in Sri Lankan waters and seized 16 Indian trawlers during the last three months. Meanwhile, fishermen in Rameshwaran have also decided to stage a demonstration on March 26 to denounce the arrests and boat seizures by Sri Lanka's navy and to protest India's failure to provide a permanent solution to the maritime tensions between Indian fishermen and the Sri Lankan navy.

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