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‘Treat us like humans’: Fishing wars trap Indians in Sri Lankan waters
When Ashoka* heard boots approaching, he began to shiver in fear. The 23-year-old was in the engine room of his boat, as three Sri Lanka Navy (SLN) men boarded the vessel. When Ashoka, an Indian fisherman from Pamban Island at the southernmost tip of India, came out on the deck, he saw the officers beating and pushing the eight fishermen on his boat, using guns, iron rods and wooden logs.
The ordeal continued for an hour, with one of the uniformed men yelling, “Beat them hard, harder”, recalls Ashoka, who was beaten too.
The fishermen — all Indians — were later handcuffed and chained, the steel edges cutting into their skin and causing itching. Chained together, none of them could move; otherwise, they would all fall. The fishermen were taken to a navy camp in Karainagar, north of Sri Lanka. Fifteen days later, two men — whom the fishermen would later learn were from the Indian embassy in Colombo — visited and gave them towels and soap. The men were finally released a month after they were arrested.
That was 2019, and the fishermen had been arrested off Katchatheevu an uninhabited island that comes under Sri Lanka’s territory, for fishing in that country’s waters. Yet horrors of Ashoka’s experience have only become more and more commonplace since then — peaking in 2024, with a spike in the number of Indian fishermen arrested by Sri Lanka, amid mounting tensions over allegations that military authorities mistreat them in custody.
A record 535 Indian fishermen were arrested by Sri Lanka in 2024 — nearly double the previous year — according to Indian government data. As of November 29, 141 Indian fishermen remained in Sri Lankan jails, with 198 trawlers confiscated.
In September, five fishermen who had crossed into Sri Lankan waters returned to Pamban with tonsured heads after they were arrested, and — according to the fishermen — were treated like convicts. They had to pay fines of 50,000 Sri Lankan rupees ($170) each to secure their release.
Protests erupted within the fishing community in the southern Indian state of Tamil Nadu, where Pamban falls, against their government over frustrations that New Delhi has not been able to ensure their security. Meanwhile, in Sri Lanka, three other Indian fishermen were sentenced to six months of imprisonment along with fines.
The SLN and the country’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs have not responded to Al Jazeera’s emails requesting comments on the allegations that Sri Lankan officers mistreat arrested fishermen.
“I wish they would treat us like humans,” says Ashoka.
The Gulf of Mannar, an inlet of the Indian Ocean connecting India and Sri Lanka, is rich in biodiversity and a source of livelihood for both countries’ fishermen. Kachchatheevu, a tiny island in the Palk Strait, a stretch of ocean that divides the two countries, was historically a common fishing ground for Indians and Sri Lankans. The fishing rights of Indians in the region were scrapped in 1976 after the island was ceded to Sri Lanka by India in 1974. Today, Kachchatheevu is a site of frequent arrests of Indian fishermen.
For Indian fishermen in Pamban, crossing the maritime border into Sri Lankan waters is a matter of survival.
The catch on the Indian side has been declining amid climate change, increasing plastic pollution in the sea and the rampant use of mechanised trawlers over decades. Trawlers, which scrape the seabed in their search for fish, destroy the seafloor habitat, including coral reefs. This in turn disrupts breeding cycles. Marine experts also blame trawlers for sea pollution from abandoned nets and fuel spills.
The seabed on the Indian side is rocky, and the international border near fishing sites like Rameswaram in Pamban starts at a distance of only 12 nautical miles (about 22km) from the shore, reducing the fishing area for Indian fishermen. To these fishers, the waters just across the maritime border are legitimate territory to sail into.
“That’s our fishing ground. Fishermen cross the border knowing well that they might get arrested or even die. If fishermen return without any fish, they cannot survive,” says P Jesuraja, president of an association of fishermen with mechanised boats in Ramanathapuram district in Tamil Nadu.
Often, though, fisherfolk enter Sri Lankan waters without intending to go there, he added.
“Almost half the time fishermen drift into the Sri Lankan side due to water currents or if it is very dark or raining,” Jesuraja says.
![Women making seashell ornaments in Rameswaram, Tamil Nadu, India [Namrata Acharya/Al Jazeera]](https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/01/Pic-1-1-1735715822.jpg?w=770&resize=770%2C576&quality=80)
In many ways, experts and fishers accept that India has contributed to this crisis through policies it first pushed seven decades earlier.
Starting in the 1950s, backed by international funding, India encouraged the use of trawlers. The result was a spike in the incomes of Indian fishermen but at the cost of destroying coral reef formations. On the other hand, the Sri Lankan side has a relatively rich fish population: the waters are shallower, and the country has a wider continental shelf that is more conducive to fishing. Sri Lanka’s marine ecosystem is richer than India’s also because it does not allow trawling.
Sri Lanka fishermen fear that Indian trawlers in their waters will eventually lead to declining marine populations — just as it happened in Indian waters.
“This seems like a fight between the fishermen of both countries,” adds Jesuraja.
While the Indian government engages in diplomatic talks with Sri Lanka to secure the release of fishermen, it is not able to bring back their boats — a lifetime investment gone for good, said Jesuraja.
Adding to their problems, in 2019, the United States imposed a ban on Indian wild-caught shrimp because the country’s vessels often do not deploy what are known as turtle excluder devices. These devices allow turtles caught accidentally during fishing to escape. India has no regulations requiring the use of these devices, so fishermen avoid their use.
India’s Marine Products Export Development Authority (MPEDA) estimates that the country has lost $500m worth of revenue in shrimp exports since the US ban came into place. That ban in turn has meant that other countries are able to bargain for lower prices while seeking to buy Indian shrimp, says Jesuraja.
The rising cost of diesel has also hit Indian fishermen. “Earlier, diesel was 50 rupees [about $0.6 at the current rate] a litre, and a kilogramme of prawn would sell at 700 rupees [$8]. Now the diesel rate is almost Rs 100 a litre and per kilogramme of prawn sells for 400-500 rupees [$4.6-5.8],” says Jesuraja.
Yet Jesuraja argues that climate change and rising sea pollution represent the biggest challenges facing Indian fisherfolk. “The problem in India is plastic waste and not the trawlers,” he says. “Reducing plastic waste will solve half of our problems.”
“About 10 years ago, when we put a fishing net in the sea, we would catch only fish. Nowadays, the amount of fish is less than the plastic waste,” says Marivel, a fisherman from Pamban Island, Tamil Nadu.
Earlier, the rainy season would be good for fishers, including those catching sardines. Now, due to erratic rain patterns, the supply of fresh water has reduced, leading to a sharp decline in sardines, said Marivel. Due to the increasing frequency of cyclones between November and February, fishermen are also unable to go to sea for several days.
As fishermen face falling incomes, women are forced to venture into the deep sea to collect seaweed as an alternative source of income. But that practice too has been affected by climate change.
About a decade ago, women from Pamban Island started collecting seaweed as incomes from fishing began to fall. Marie, a seaweed collector on Pamban, says this year she could collect only about 3kg of seaweed a day, while about 10 years ago, she used to collect 20-25kg a day.
Women are often required to dive up to 3.5 metres (12 feet) under the sea without any protective gear to collect seaweed.
Rising phytoplankton blooms in the sea due to erratic rains and rising sea temperatures are causing seaweed and coral erosion. As a result, small fish are unable to breathe and die on the shore, says Gayatri Usman, station head of Kadal Osai, a community radio station in the region.
The radio station, run by fisherfolk in Rameswaram, helps raise awareness about climate change through local traditions, folk tales, and songs. It recently offered 1,000 rupees ($11.6) for every fisherman who saved a turtle.
“Our intention [is] to make people aware about climate change. We can’t change climate change, but the idea is to make them aware. Our motto is: think globally and act locally. Only if we think of local solutions to climate change, we can fight it globally,” says Usman.
But for many fisher families, it’s already too late. The spate of arrests they and their comrades have faced in recent months means that many want their future generations to stay away from fishing. “We would never want our children to be fishermen or marry a fisherman,” says Marivel.
[Aljazeera]
Latest News
Steps will be taken to implement a new National Youth Policy in Sri Lanka in the first quarter of 2027 – PM
Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya stated that the new National Youth Policy, being formulated to address the current challenges faced by Sri Lanka’s youth and fulfill their aspirations for the future, is scheduled to be finalised and implemented by the first quarter of 2027.
The Prime Minister made these remarks on Wednesday [September 16], while addressing the 1st National Research Symposium on Youth Development – NRSYD 2026, jointly organised by the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) and the Ministry of Youth Affairs and Sports, held at the Water Supply and Drainage Board Auditorium in Ratmalana.
The symposium was held under the theme, “Young People as Right Holders and Change-Makers: Asset-based Pathways for Social Transformation.” Research papers are being presented under nine key thematic areas.
These areas include youth empowerment and leadership; education, vocational training and skills development; health, mental well-being and nutrition; youth entrepreneurship and economic participation; technology, digitalisation and innovation; climate change and sustainable development; minorities, social integration and the rule of law; youth migration and international relations; and arts, culture and creative expression.
The official publication of the symposium was presented to Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya and other distinguished guests by Deputy Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Dinindu Saman Hennayake and Secretary to the Ministry A.M.H.U. Aruna Bandara.
Speaking at the event, Prime Minister Dr. Harini Amarasuriya sated:
“Although a draft National Youth Policy was prepared in 2014, it was not implemented. Therefore, a new policy is currently being formulated with the participation of all stakeholders, taking into consideration the current changes in technology, the economy and the employment market.
Under the Government’s Public Investment Programme, Rs. 145 million has been allocated for research and development activities in the youth and sports sectors. Rs. 5 million has been allocated for this symposium. This allocation is a good beginning. It clearly demonstrates the seriousness with which we view evidence-based policymaking.
In the face of technological advancement and digitalisation, providing young people with academic knowledge alone is not sufficient. It is essential to equip them with practical, technical and vocational skills alongside knowledge. For this purpose, curricula within the existing education system must be updated in line with new technologies and global demand.
As for the Government, youth development is a cross-cutting issue that concerns all sectors. Our intention is to establish a unified policy framework that can provide guidelines and recommendations to address the challenges faced by young people in a scientific and sustainable manner.
Formulating a policy is only the beginning. The success of the National Youth Policy will depend on its implementation, monitoring and evaluation. Our objective should be to develop young people who are resilient and capable of facing changes, while also enabling them to become a generation that leads positive changes taking place in the world”.
The Prime Minister further stated that there is a proposal to hold the research symposium as an international conference next year, which would provide Sri Lankan researchers with significant opportunities to establish connections at regional and international levels.
The occasion was attended by the Minister of Youth Affairs and Sports Sunil Kumara Gamage, Vice Chancellor of the Open University of Sri Lanka Senior Professor P.M.C. Thilakarathne, along with a large number of researchers, academics and young people.
[Prime Minister’s Media Division]
… America-Pakistan developed required ‘intel’ for operation
By Shamindra Ferdinando
The US Embassy in Colombo declined to comment on a special police probe into the recent narcotics detection, jointly made at the China-managed Colombo International Container Terminal (CICT) by the US Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) New Delhi Country Office and Sri Lanka Police..
US Embassy spokesperson said that the mission wouldn’t add to their press release, issued on 2 Sept., in the immediate aftermath of the raid.
Police Headquarters, on 11 Sept., declared that the Central Crime Investigation Bureau (CCIB) was conducting investigations into the recovery of 473 kg of Crystal Methamphetamine (‘Ice’). Police never acknowledged the role played by the US in the operation.
According to Police Headquarters, on a directive given by IGP Priyantha Weerasooriya, the Special Investigation Unit has launched an internal probe into, what it called, shortcomings and irregularities in the Colombo Port raid.
The Island:
Have you (relevant US authorities) received an update of Sri Lanka’s investigations from the Police?
US Embassy:
U.S. and Sri Lankan law enforcement authorities maintain close and ongoing cooperation on counternarcotics matters, including the exchange of information that helps both countries combat transnational drug trafficking. We don’t have anything further to share on communications with Sri Lankan authorities beyond what we’ve already said publicly about the successful operation.
The Island:
Did the Police seek clarification regarding DEA, New Delhi Country Office role in the successful raid?
US Embassy:
As the Embassy noted publicly following the seizure, cooperation with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration contributed to the Sri Lanka Police Narcotics Bureau’s successful seizure of approximately 463 kilograms of methamphetamine at the Port of Colombo.
The seizure demonstrates the value of close U.S.-Sri Lankan cooperation in disrupting transnational narcotics trafficking.
The Island:
Before we raised this issue were you aware of the internal investigation into the drug bust which was also raised in Parliament last week?
The US Embassy:
We don’t have anything further to share beyond what we’ve already said publicly about the successful operation.
Our focus remains on the strong U.S.-Sri Lanka law enforcement partnership and the concrete results our cooperation can deliver—disrupting transnational criminal organisations, cutting off the profits that fuel illicit drug trafficking, and protecting our citizens from the dangers of narcotrafficking.
The US Embassy attributed the success of the counternarcotics operation to the US-Sri Lanka partnership
The US Embassy statement, dated 2 Sept: The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) New Delhi Country Office and Sri Lanka’s Police Narcotics Bureau (PNB) conducted a successful joint operation disrupting a Pakistan-based narcotrafficking network attempting to smuggle crystal methamphetamine through Sri Lanka to international markets.
Acting on intelligence developed by DEA’s Foreign Counterparts Unit Pakistan Anti-Narcotics Force Special Investigations Cell between August 14–29 on suspicious maritime containers moving from Pakistan to Colombo, PNB seized approximately 463 kg of crystal methamphetamine with a street value of $21 million, concealed in bath towels, and arrested several suspects, including Pakistani nationals. This operation underscores the strength of the U.S.-Sri Lanka partnership in dismantling transnational criminal organisations that fund terrorism and threaten communities in both our countries. This cooperation builds on long-standing training and technical assistance provided through the U.S. Department of State’s Bureau of International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs (INL) to the Sri Lanka Police and Customs. The United States remains committed to working with Sri Lanka and regional partners to aggressively pursue transnational criminal organizations, deny them the revenue from illicit drug trafficking, and protect our citizens from the dangers of narcotrafficking.”
SLPP National Organiser Namal Rajapaksa, in Parliament, raised questions about the internal investigation into the raid. However, Rajapaksa, too, hasn’t mentioned the US role in the operation. The Special Investigation Unit has recorded a statement from Senior DIG Ranmal Kodituwakku regarding the Colombo Port raid.
MP Rajapaksa questioned the rationale behind questioning the officer who led the raid against the backdrop of controversial releasing of 323 containers from the Colombo Port in January 2025. The failure to question those responsible for the releasing of 323 containers indicated who was behind that operation, MP Rajapaksa told Parliament.
Bodu Bala Sena (BBS) General Secretary Ven. Galagodaaththe Gnanasara Thera appeared before the Colombo High Court yesterday in a case filed by the Attorney General over statements allegedly insulting Islam.
The case was taken up before Colombo High Court Judge Buddhika C. Ragala, who ordered that it be called again on September 30.
His appearance came six days after the Supreme Court invalidated the presidential pardon granted to Gnanasara Thera by former President Maithripala Sirisena in 2019.
Speaking to journalists outside the court, Gnanasara Thera said he was prepared to face the legal process and would abide by the law, rejecting reports that he had gone into hiding following the Supreme Court judgment.
“It is the weak who disappear and flee. We worked for the country and are facing the consequences for that. We are not afraid and will not flee,” he said, noting that he would surrender to the court and face whatever legal consequences following the Supreme Court decision.
The Supreme Court, on September 10, ruled that the presidential pardon granted to Gnanasara Thera by Sirisena was invalid. The judgment followed fundamental rights petitions challenging the legality of the pardon. A three-judge bench, comprising Justices Janak de Silva, Sobhitha Rajakaruna and Sampath Abeykoon, delivered the ruling.
Gnanasara Thera was convicted by the Court of Appeal in 2018 for contempt of court and sentenced to a total of 19 years’ imprisonment to run concurrently as six years. The conviction related to his conduct during proceedings at the Homagama Magistrate’s Court concerning the disappearance of Prageeth Eknaligoda.
He was released from Welikada Prison on May 23, 2019, after then President Maithripala Sirisena had granted him a presidential pardon.
The Supreme Court found the pardon to be arbitrary and invalid in law, following its consideration of the petitions challenging the exercise of the presidential power of clemency.
Meanwhile, police have said they are awaiting the Supreme Court judgment before determining what further action should be taken following the invalidation of the pardon.
The proceedings before the Colombo High Court yesterday are separate from the contempt of court case that resulted in the six-year sentence. They concern alleged statements made by Gnanasara Thera regarding Islam.
In June this year, the Colombo High Court rejected an appeal by Gnanasara Thera against a nine-month prison sentence imposed by the Colombo Magistrate’s Court in connection with statements made at a 2016 media briefing that were found to have disrupted religious coexistence.
The latest High Court proceedings, therefore, form part of separate legal action concerning his alleged remarks about Islam, while the Supreme Court ruling relates specifically to the legality of the 2019 presidential pardon granted in connection with his contempt of court conviction.
The case before the Colombo High Court will be called again on September 30.
Zimbabwean Tavengwa Mukuhlani appointed Deputy Chair of the ICC until November 2027.
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Isle of Man teenage all-rounder Lucy Barnett ICC Women’s Player of the Month for August 2026
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