Abig problem that fishermen from all around the world face is when they go out into deep waters to look for better fish to catch and then they accidentally drift off into neighbouring country’s territory. Since there is nothing to tell them that they have crossed into the other country’s waters, they sometimes get caught by the patrolling naval guards of neighbouring countries.

In the neighbouring country’s prison, they don't get proper medical care, proper food and they don't get to communicate with their country’s embassy or their family, who think they are dead. There are a few people who can tell whether you have gone too far by checking the temperature or colour of the water so they don't wander into another territory, but such people are few.

There also used to be a society of retired judges from both India and Pakistan that helped solve this problem by making sure that the prisoners got better medical services, food and the ability to communicate with their country’s embassy and their families, but the society of retired judges hasn’t met in quite a while.

There are a few things we can do to prevent this problem from happening. We can share the sea, God has given the sea to all of us, and it should not belong to any individual country. We could also make a rule that you can you can only catch no more than 1000 pounds of fish a month, though that might be a little unfair for the poor fishermen who rely on fish for their income. Also the coast guards of the neighbouring countries can warn you if you have gone too far instead of immediately catching the fishermen and putting them in prison.

Published in Dawn, Young World March 11th, 2017