INDONESIANS rescued en route to Australia may have been fleeing from illegal fishing bosses, indebted after having boats confiscated by Australian authorities.

Rote Islanders told the Herald two of the three fishermen rescued - among 16 people - had large debts after boats they were using for illegal shark fishing were confiscated by Australian authorities last year. One feared for his life after receiving death threats from an illegal fishing boss, they claimed.

The Rote fishermen often work for syndicates specialising in the lucrative export of shark fins, with several bosses owning five or more shark fishing boats. Fishermen who use these boats must pay a set fee to the boss when they return.

Federal Government sources point to intelligence reports on a number of mostly ethnic-Chinese syndicates operating on Rote, some involved in both illegal fishing and people smuggling.

James Fox, the head of Pacific and Asian studies at the Australian National University, said many islanders had an idealised view of Australia, having enjoyed serving time after being apprehended for illegal fishing.

Professor Fox lived on Rote for three years, studying its fishermen and developing a training program in alternative industries. Recent, joint Australian and Indonesian operations had almost eliminated illegal shark fishing, he said.

Many of the young fishermen incarcerated in Australia thought it was “great living”, Professor Fox said. “They said they got three meals a day and had a machine that you put your clothes in and they came out clean.”

The fishermen had a very limited understanding of Australia, he said and desperately needed new economic livelihoods or “the problem will get bigger”.

Professor Fox said the three rescued fishermen had come to Rote from other islands in Indonesia where the waters had been fished out by illegal operations.

All 16 of those rescued 650 kilometres west of Darwin are being transported to Christmas Island. Their nationalities and names have not been officially confirmed, but locals from Rote have identified the group, and claimed they were seeking asylum because Australia had destroyed their livelihoods.

A local fisherman, Ris Magung, said “we have only one job: fishing, but our future has been robbed by Australia”.