Tangerang (ANTARA) - Indonesian Migrant Workers Protection Agency (BP2MI) affirmed that it will continue coordinating with the Indonesian Embassy in South Korea in the search for Indonesian workers missing in a fishing boat accident earlier this month.
"There are four (missing) Indonesian workers remaining, and we hope we could inform this matter to our ambassador in Seoul," BP2MI Chairperson Benny Rhamdani stated here on Saturday (March 16).
He noted that of the seven Indonesian workers who went missing when their boat capsized on the southern coast of South Korea on March 9, 2024, three were found dead. Meanwhile, four other Indonesian crews remain missing as the search continues, the agency head said.
"Let us pray so that (the missing workers) will be found, returned to Indonesia, and received by their families soon," he said.
Rhamdani said the accident was caused by bad weather, as the wind speed and the sea wave were high when the fishing boat sailed. He questioned why it was allowed to depart amidst the bad weather.
"Hence, BP2MI on Monday will ask Foreign Minister (Retno Marsudi) to dispatch a diplomatic note to the South Korean authority to ask the fishing company to be responsible," he said.
"I believe it is something usual in government-to-government relations. There is no intention at all to harm relations between Indonesia and South Korea," he added.
The agency earlier received the caskets of the three Indonesian workers who lost their lives in the boat accident. The caskets were flown by state-owned airline Garuda Indonesia and arrived at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport on Saturday at 3:55 p.m. Jakarta time (UTC +7).
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The three Indonesians were identified as Maulana Mansyur from Sukabumi, West Java; Arie Permana of Sumedang, West Java; and Safrudin from Brebes, Central Java. Following their arrival, BP2MI will hand over the caskets to their families in their respective hometowns.
BP2MI optimises coordination onmissing Indonesians in South Korea
Indonesian Migrant Workers' Protection Agency (BP2MI) Chairperson Benny Rhamdani speaks to the press after receiving the caskets of three Indonesian migrant workers who died in a fishing boat accident in South Korea, Saturday (March 16, 2024). ANTARA/Azmi Syamsul Ma'arif/nbl.
