KOTA KINABALU: Stranded Indian crewman, Khurshid Iqbal and his fellow colleagues are keeping their fingers crossed as they await good news about their plight.
Khurshid and nine other crewman on board a cargo vessel, who have been stranded near the Gaya Island off Kota Kinabalu here since August, said they have started getting a lot of help from several non-governmental organisations and good samaritans.
Khurshid had claimed that they all arrived in Sabah waters on Aug 4 and upon arrival, had their passports and US$12,000 (RM50,000) deposits “kept” by the owner.
“After our plight was highlighted in the media last Friday (Nov 30), we have been contacted by various parties including the Sabah Malaysian Trades Union Congress (MTUC) vice-chairman Margaret Chin and others,” he said.
He said Chin, together with the Sabah Environmental Protection Association (SEPA), and volunteers have helped to contact their boat owner.
He said they were brought to lodge police reports on the matter, met with Immigration officials as well as file their complaints at the Labour Department.
“We really hope this problem will be solved soon,” he said when contacted on Thursday (Dec 6).
Chin said the case was not to be taken lightly as it involved the welfare of humans, and workers coming to Sabah to earn a living.
She said after reading about their plight in the media, she has engaged with several parties to help the stranded crewmen, who also could possibly considered as human trafficking victims.
“We have since then managed to get the boat owner to properly respond to this matter, and to see that these crewmen get their salaries paid as soon as possible,” she said, adding that the workers were taken to a hospital for medical check up on Saturday (Dec 1).
Chin said the way the crewmen were treated was as if they were being trafficked.
She said they were not paid their salaries, provided with little food and water, having to live in such uncomfortable conditions on board the vessel, and having their passports and deposit money held.
“We will try to see if the authorities or security forces will classify this as human trafficking,” she said.
Chin said the owner after being forced, have offered to pay the crew their two months worth of salaries through an agent.
“But this is not right, we want the owner to pay these crewmen their full four months worth of salaries,” she said.
As for the crewmen’s passports which were being held by the owner, she said the Immigration Department was working on it.
“We just need to wait for the process to take its course,” she said, adding the police have also taken the statements from all the crewmen about the matter.
Chin said she hopes the owner will return the money, passports and all relevant documents to the crew comprising eight Indians, one from Pakistan and another from Maldives.
Kota Kinabalu police chief ACP Habibi Majinji said they will open up an investigation paper if there is any criminal elements found in the case.
“We have received their reports and for now, we have handed the case over to the Immigration for further action, but if there are any elements that require police intervention, we will take the necessary action,” he said.
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