Foreign fishermen settle human trafficking suit
Two Indonesian fishermen who say they were enslaved on an American fishing boat have settled their lawsuit against the vessel’s owner seven years after escaping and receiving special U.S. visas as victims of human trafficking, their lawyers told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
The attorneys said Sorihin, who uses just one name, and Abdul Fatah settled their lawsuit for an undisclosed sum against Thoai Van Nguyen, the California-based owner and captain of the Sea Queen II.
Nguyen denied all allegations of abuse but agreed to provide a detailed list of rights to anyone fishing on his boats.
The lawsuit, filed in U.S. court in San Francisco, claimed the men were trafficked through the Hawaii longline fishing fleet and forced to work on the boat around Hawaii and off the shores of California.