In this handout photo released by Indonesia's Ministry of Fishery on April 8, 2015, fishing boats carrying hundreds of rescued foreign fishermen depart Benjina island following an operation by Indonesia's illegal fishing task force.
Jakarta (AFP) - The Indonesian government has announced it will form a special team to investigate allegations of slavery in the fishing industry, as officials prepare to return hundreds of foreign crewmen to their homelands.
The head of the fisheries ministry's illegal fishing task force, Mas Achmad Santosa, said several fishermen had claimed that an Indonesian company, which employed more than 1,000 foreigners from several Southeast Asian nations, engaged in slavery and torture in the remote east of the country.
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