The Myanmar Seafarers’ Federation (MSF) said to provide assistance to Myanmar seafarers who have been facing difficulties to return back to Myanmar for various reasons while serving on ships in various foreign countries and ports.
MSF has urged families of seafarers who have been detained for various reasons while working on ships to inform them the country and port where they have been held and facing difficulties returning to their home country or other difficulties such as injuries sustained at work.
Currently, there are no seafarers detained for various reasons, but only those who have been experiencing difficulties to return home due to injuries were given assistance, said U Hote Som, vice president of the Myanmar Seafarers’ Federation (MSF). Families of Myanmar seafarers who are having difficulty returning to Myanmar should provide MSF with the seafarer’s name, CDC number, passport number, ship data, name and office address of the local representative in Myanmar, and name and office address of the ship owner abroad.
In addition, the fact and data such as reason and place of detention, whether there are activities taken by the local representative upon the detention, and if so, how they acted, must be presented with evidence. There are only over 100,000 seafarers officially registered in Myanmar, and only about 50,000 are actually working on ships.
