Egypt’s Embassy in Sana’a, Yemen, reported on Sunday that “dozens” of Egyptian fishermen and their vessels are being held by the Yemeni authorities.
The fishermen are charged with illegally entering Yemen’s “territorial waters” and fishing illegally, the Ministry of Foreign affairs said in a Sunday statement.
The Egyptian Embassy has held “intensive contacts” with Yemeni authorities, including the prosecutor general’s office, the deputy Yemeni foreign minister and the undersecretary of the fisheries ministry, regarding the issue. The embassy is working with the authorities to “speed up their release… in preparation for their return to their homeland at the earliest opportunity, taking into account the complex political and security conditions there,” the Egyptian foreign ministry said.
The ministry appealed to fishermen to “respect the territorial sovereignty of states” and not to illegally enter “to avoid being arrested and subjected to legal accountability”.
The embassy is coordinating with members of the Egyptian community in the coastal city of Hodeida as well as with the owners of the boats, who are based in Egypt.
Egyptian fishermen often stray into foreign waters in the Red Sea, particularly those belonging to Yemen and with some cases reported in Saudi Arabia, Libya and Tunisia, resulting in their detention.
