Papua New Guinea - Authorities in Papua New Guinea (PNG) are conducting a search and rescue operation in Western Province waters after an IOM assessment found a group of mariners from a trawler at risk of being trafficked.

On Monday, PNG immigration officials boarded a vessel in response to an Associated Press (AP) report claiming fishing vessels linked to a high profile human trafficking case in neighboring Indonesia in March were operating in remote PNG fishing ground known as “the dog leg.”

“We were able to determine that eight sailors from Cambodia and Myanmar were at risk of being trafficked,” said IOM PNG Chief of Mission George Gigauri.

“While it may be too early to say that this particular vessel is definitely connected to the case in Indonesia, it’s looking increasingly likely that it is, based on the profile of the fishermen we have intercepted,” he added.

In March AP reported on the plight of hundreds of trafficked fishermen associated with the Benjina fisheries weight station in eastern Indonesia. Over the next two months IOM repatriated 620 of the victims to Myanmar, Cambodia and Laos.

It is believed that dozens of vessels fled Indonesian waters ahead of a government crackdown, and it is the plight of sailors aboard those ships that spurred the PNG government to act.

For more information please contact George Gigauri at IOM Port Moresby. Email: ggigauri@iom.int, Tel. +675 732 00136.