Fishermen rush to be rescued from captive conditions on Indonesian island

Hundreds of foreign fishermen yesterday rushed at the chance to be rescued from an isolated Indonesian island where a recent report revealed slavery running rampant in the industry.

Indonesian officials, who were visiting the village of Benjina by boat to investigate the abuses, offered some of the men safe passage off the island.

News spread among other fishermen, from countries including Myanmar and Cambodia, as a downpour started. They sprinted back to their boats, jumping over the rails and throwing themselves through windows. They stuffed their meagre belongings into plastic bags and rushed back to the dock, not wanting to be left behind.

A small boat went from trawler to trawler picking up men who wanted to go and was soon loaded down with about 30 men.

A week after the revelations emerged about slavery in the seafood industry - including video of men locked in a cage - delegations from Thailand and Indonesia visited Benjina. A government team from Myanmar is also scheduled to tour the area next week to try to determine how many of its citizens are stuck there and what can be done to bring them home.

The director general of Indonesia's Marine Resources and Fisheries Surveillance initially told about 20 men from Myanmar that he would move them from Benjina village to neighbouring Tual island for their safety following interviews with officials yesterday.