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Human Rights Human Rights

“I told them, first thing they have to do, they should bring finished the painkiller, then again the leg was full of pain. So,
the contract. That’s the first thing. If not, I’m not going to I told one of the Indonesian workers to tell the captain I want
go,” the former deckhand told Islands Business. to go back.
“So the first thing they told us was that we’re going to go “I know my leg is not good. I wanted to come back. And the
out and we’re going to sign the contract there,” he said. “If first thing the Captain was telling the Indonesian guy was that
I knew from that time that they’d never give the contract, I we don’t have any contract.
would never go. I would never have gone on that boat.” “They don’t have contracts. They don’t have any right to
He would pay a high price for making the mistake of take this ship back. They’re going to wait for the day we’re
trusting his employers to stick to their word. Early into going to arrive back in Fiji,” he claims he heard the Captain
the voyage, the hard labour would cause him an injury he say.
continues to suffer with today. The man remained aboard the ship for another three
The man boarded the vessel under the promise of wage in months and two weeks, forced to continue his work or return
November of 2023, from the Suva wharf. He says eight days without a wage.
into the journey, he and several other Fijian deckhands would The deckhand returned to Suva on the 25th of February,
be transferred to another vessel, crossing over on a raft on 2024. He has since seen a specialist and been diagnosed with
the high seas. However, both vessels operated under the same a herniated disc, a painful condition that has kept him from
flag, so such a transfer was not unheard of. working since his discharge from the Spanish vessel.
These men were offered a raft and a 25 horsepower engine While statistics gathered by the Human Dignity Group show
for this transfer. While this suggests endangerment already, that Fijian vessels have a significantly better track record,
the Human Dignity Group has come across several claims from they also reveal that foreign vessels hiring Fijian deckhands
other former deckhands of far worse conditions. often go unchecked for the treatment of these workers.
“Some of them have to swim across with one hand up in the Regardless of local opportunities, this deckhand, and many
air hanging on to their dry clothes,” Captain Kadavi shared. others who have also been permanently injured while at sea,
“We know of such stories. One of the boys we know had may never be able to return to work.
whitlow, a painful throbbing on the fingers. He had that, and The Human Dignity Group has, over the past several years,
he had to be brought to Suva for medical attention. So he was provided support to many such men. A 21-year-old left
told if he wanted to come to Suva, then he had to swim across partially paralysed due to developing an abscess on his back,
to the other boat,” Mr Kadavi said. a young man whose fingers were amputated due to frostbite
“Usually when they swim, they have a life jacket, but we from a lack of gloves while working in the freezer, one left
know of cases where some of them had to swim without a life partially blinded by a thrashing tuna tail, another who had his
jacket,” Dr Kailola added. right eye taken out by a stray bait hook; all Fijian men injured
After this perilous crossing, the deckhand who spoke to on the job and owed compensation they will never see due to
Islands Business would be injured soon after boarding the a lack of proper employment contracts.
second vessel, and would be denied medical evacuation to “Over the years, I’ve heard such sad stories – inflicted by
Suva. men on men, for no real reason,” Dr Kailola said to a room
“We were taking a fish down to the freezer in December, full of stakeholders last month.
around Christmas time, and that day had very rough seas,” he Speaking at a workshop on labour standards on fishing
said. vessels in October, Dr Kailola shared the plight of Fijian
“I was carrying a big shark, about 60kg. And the boat was, deckhands on foreign fishing vessels.
you know, shaking a lot. And I was falling down. I bent my “If any of you folks are interested, I will show you my ‘dead
leg. And when we came back up that afternoon, I didn’t even and missing’ list and tell you some stories,” she told her
imagine it was that bad. audience.
“After two days, then I saw my leg was swollen and full of “On a 2018 survey sheet, I saw the story of two Fijian
pain,” he said. fishers who got beaten by a Chinese man, who then stabbed
The former deckhand had continued his work the next two them and put them in the blast freezer. Who were they? What
days, not realising the severity of the injury until the swelling vessel?” she asks.
and pain became debilitating. But how many others are enquiring? Whose job is it to
“When I saw the swelling, then I went to the Captain. I ensure Fijian men are protected when working at sea? While
asked the captain to give some medicine. I told him that the Human Dignity Group continues its efforts, its directors
maybe I got hurt when I fell down that day. And he told me, agree that large-scale change can come only from the
‘No, I can’t do anything for that,’” he continued. introduction and enforcement of policies aimed at protecting
“So I said, ‘Okay, just give me some medicine and some maritime workers.
cream to rub on my leg.’ They just give me painkiller. When I

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