FRANCE - VIETNAM

Macron champions 'rules-based order' as France courts Vietnam

Amid rising US-China rivalry in Southeast Asia, French President Emmanuel Macron has pitched France as a stable, rules-driven partner with economic clout and diplomatic balance during his visit to Vietnam.


Issued on: 27/05/2025 - 09:27

France's President Emmanuel Macron, left, and Vietnam's President Luong Cuong pose for photo during a meeting at the Presidential Palace in Hanoi, Veitnam Monday, 26 May 2025. AP - Nhac Nguyen

French President Emmanuel Macron kicked off a high-profile tour of Southeast Asia on Monday with a strong call to uphold a global order "based on law", as tensions mount between the United States and China in the region.

Speaking in Hanoi alongside Vietnamese counterpart Luong Cuong, Macron stressed the importance of a rules-based international framework during what he described as "a time of great imbalance and a resurgence of power-driven rhetoric and intimidation".

His visit comes as Vietnam finds itself navigating choppy diplomatic waters. While sharing strong economic ties with both the US and China, Vietnam is also grappling with Washington’s threats of steep tariffs – potentially up to 46 percent – while locked in territorial disputes with Beijing in the South China Sea.

Posting on X, Macron wrote: "Vietnam naturally emerged as the first stop on my trip to Southeast Asia. This is a new page being written between our two countries, in all areas: economic, scientific, technological, industrial, military, strategic, cultural, academic".

French contracts, 'booming' economy

Macron – looking to position France as a trustworthy partner – offered Hanoi a compelling alternative.

“With France, you have a familiar, safe, and reliable friend,” he told To Lam, the secretary general of Vietnam’s ruling Communist Party.

“In the period we are living in, this alone has great value.”

The French leader brought more than just warm words.

Nearly €9 billion worth of contracts were signed during his visit, highlighting France’s eagerness to tap into Vietnam’s booming economy.

Among the headline deals was budget airline Vietjet’s purchase of 20 Airbus A330-900 aircraft, doubling its fleet of the widebody model.

In addition, France and Vietnam signed an agreement on nuclear energy – a nod to Hanoi’s ambitions to meet rising energy demand while cutting carbon emissions.

Message on transatlantic relations

Macron’s message was also aimed westward. He addressed recent deadly Russian strikes on Ukraine, urging US President Donald Trump to back up tough talk with concrete action.

“I believe President Trump realises that when President Putin says he’s ready for peace, he’s not being truthful,” Macron said, calling for stronger US resolve.

On transatlantic ties, Macron struck a hopeful note. He expressed confidence that trade talks between the European Union and the United States would bear fruit, with an eye towards significantly reducing tariffs.

Vietnam invites France to remember Dien Bien Phu defeat after 70 years

Human rights and 'domestic spat'

Yet, the visit wasn’t without its complexities. Human Rights Watch had called on Macron to speak out against Vietnam’s harsh record on political dissent.

The one-party state currently holds over 170 political prisoners under laws that critics say criminalise peaceful activism.

However, in line with his usual diplomatic style, Macron opted to address human rights concerns privately rather than publicly.

France's President Emmanuel Macron was apparently pushed in the face by his wife Brigitte Macron as the couple arrived in Vietnam to begin a tour of Southeast Asia, at Noi Bai International Airport, in Hanoi, Vietnam, 25 May 2025. REUTERS - Chalinee Thirasupa

The visit was briefly overshadowed by a viral video showing Brigitte Macron appearing to push her husband’s face as they landed in Hanoi.

Macron laughed off suggestions of a spat, saying they were “joking” and the moment was taken out of context. “Everyone needs to calm down,” he said, blaming online disinformation – particularly from Russian and extremist sources – for distorting harmless footage.

During his time in Hanoi, Macron paid respects at a war memorial and lunched with Vietnamese leaders at the historic Temple of Literature, where he also enjoyed a traditional music and dance performance.

His Southeast Asia tour will continue with stops in Indonesia and Singapore.

Few diffusers and many bottlenecks: the French labor market according to statistical physics

Why changing careers is so hard: physicists uncover hidden rigidity in the job market - new paper in JSTAT

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Graph visualization of the weighted and directed labor market network derived from the transition probability matrix, computed from data spanning the years 2012 to 2020. Each node symbolizes an occupation, with links that illustrate transitions between them. Node sizes correspond to the occupation’s workforce size, while node color indicates its BRIM community (Blondel et al., 2008a). Line widths are proportional to the transition probability. The layout is based on the OpenOrd algorithm (Martin et al., 2011), and the graph was generated using Gephi (Bastian et al., 2009).

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Credit: Max Knicker, Karl Naumann-Woleske, and Michael Benzaquen - École Polytechnique Paris

How long have you been doing your current job? Have you ever thought about trying a new profession? How difficult does change seem to you? The current rapid transformation of the labor market is putting many workers to the test: they struggle to keep up and move into new roles, while at the same time companies are having difficulty finding qualified personnel. A new study has analyzed the French labor market using methods from statistical physics, and found that over 90% of jobs today function as bottlenecks: they are easily accessible, but once entered, they become traps from which it is hard to move elsewhere—even when other opportunities are available.

The study, conducted by Max Knicker, Karl Naumann-Woleske, and Michael Benzaquen of École Polytechnique in Paris, and published in the Journal of Statistical Mechanics: Theory and Experiment (JSTAT), provides a detailed mapping of accessibility and transferability characteristics within the French occupational network. It reveals strong structural rigidity in the overall labor system and offers a basis for understanding what kinds of interventions and policy decisions might help to break this deadlock.

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Technology, lifestyle changes, migration, and other issues are rapidly transforming the labor market: professions that were in high demand just ten years ago may now be obsolete, while new and growing jobs struggle to find skilled workers. This affects people’s lives directly, and also impacts economic development. To find effective strategies, it is crucial to understand the detailed mechanisms of access and transition between occupations. Doing so requires the analysis of large-scale data, which is where statistical physics, developed precisely to manage large volumes of dynamic information, becomes particularly useful. Knicker and his team applied network analysis tools to data from the last ten years of the French labor market, revealing structural rigidities and vulnerabilities.

One of the study’s strengths is its ability to view the system in its entirety. The researchers did not rely on a sample or projections, but on real, comprehensive data from across France. “We used official data provided by the National Institute of Statistics and Economic Studies through the service of Secure Data Access Center (CASD). In total, we had access to information on about 30 million workers and employers in France, whom we tracked over a 10-year period,” explains Max Knicker, a PhD candidate at the École Polytechnique in Paris, affiliated with the EconophysiX lab and lead author of the study. The team worked with high-resolution administrative data from INSEE (the French National Institute of Statistics), specifically the BTS-Postes (Base Tous Salariés – Postes).

“We then assigned each occupation a score for two key metrics: transferability and accessibility,” Knicker explains.“On one hand, Transferability captures how diverse the set of occupations is that people move into from a given occupation. Accessibility, on the other hand, measures how diverse the origins are of people entering a given occupation, indicating how broadly accessible it is from across the labor market.”

Knicker and colleagues mapped all occupations onto a two-dimensional space defined by these variables, identifying four main clusters or categories of jobs. “Diffuser occupations are those with high transferability but low accessibility, they’re harder to enter but offer a wide range of exit opportunities,” Knicker explains. “Channel occupations are both hard to enter and offer few onward transitions. Hubs are both widely accessible and highly transferable, acting as central nodes in the transition network. Finally, the most common type are condensers — occupations that many workers can enter from diverse backgrounds, but which offer limited options for moving onward.”

Hubs, condensers, diffusers, and channels

“Hubs include jobs like retail sellers, which require a broad but not highly specialized skill set,” says Knicker. “Condensers include caregiving roles: technically, there aren’t many barriers to entry, but once someone enters a condenser occupation it’s hard to transition to something else. As for diffusers—where few occupations enter but from which it’s easy to move elsewhere—we’re talking about roles like technical flight managers or merchant navy specialists: jobs that require specific training to enter, but that training enables transitions to many other areas.”

“Lastly,” Knicker concludes, “channels are jobs that are hard to access and hard to leave. They often involve highly specialized skills, such as industrial welding machine operators.”

“For now, it’s a descriptive analysis. We’re essentially looking at the past, not building predictive models yet. But even this descriptive framework helps us understand how transitions happen,” Knicker explains. “While the broader labor market is undoubtedly undergoing structural shifts due to technological and economic change, we found that the observed occupational transition patterns have remained relatively stable over the past decade. This empirical stability allows us to use the current structure as a meaningful baseline, enabling our metrics to highlight occupations where policy efforts might most effectively ease reallocation bottlenecks.”

According to Knicker, the insights from this and future studies could help guide efforts to promote smoother transitions within the labor market. “With our work, we aim to identify the occupations with the greatest potential to act as levers or bridges, facilitating people’s movement from one job to another.”

Knicker and his team are making their methodology available to anyone who wants to apply it to other contexts—for example, to other European countries or even across the entire EU. One current challenge, however, he explains, is data standardization: some countries have extensive datasets comparable to France’s, while in others the picture is more fragmented. Still, the study just published is only a first step. In the future, Knicker and colleagues hope to track individual career trajectories and integrate other types of data, such as information on specific vocational training.

  

Graph visualization of the weighted and directed labor market network derived from the transition probability matrix, computed from data spanning the years 2012 to 2020. Each node symbolizes an occupation, with links that illustrate transitions between them. Node sizes correspond to the occupation’s workforce size, while node color indicates its BRIM community (Blondel et al., 2008a). Line widths are proportional to the transition probability. The layout is based on the OpenOrd algorithm (Martin et al., 2011), and the graph was generated using Gephi (Bastian et al., 2009).

Credit

Max Knicker, Karl Naumann-Woleske, and Michael Benzaquen - École Polytechnique Paris.

Journal

Journal of Statistical Mechanics Theory and Experiment

Method of Research

Data/statistical analysis

Subject of Research

Not applicable

Article Title

The Structure of Occupational Mobility in France

Article Publication Date

27-May-2025

Private military firms undermine France’s quiet exit from West Africa

France has restructured its military presence in recent months, closing most of its historic bases in West Africa. However, the arrival of private military companies employing French personnel is undermining the discretion sought by army headquarters in Paris.


Issued on: 27/05/2025 - RFI

French soldiers of the 'Elements Français au Senegal' (EFS) force base along with Senegalese soldiers perform a military exercice during the visit of French Prime Minister in Dakar, on 18 November 2019. © SEYLLOU / AFP

According to Peer de Jong, a naval colonel who now heads Themiis, a security, defence, and services company (ESSD) operating in Mauritania, former French soldiers are highly valued for their deep knowledge of African war zones, where they have often been deployed. And, in West and Central Africa, the French language remains a key advantage.

"It's a small world!" he told told RFI's defence correspondent, Franck Alexandre. "French ex-military personnel have an excellent reputation. And then, Anglo-Saxons don't speak French, and that's essential for operating in Africa. The number two at the private security group Bancroft is Frenchman Richard Rouget."

Rouget is a former paratrooper. If Bancroft wants to work in the Central African Republic, according to de Jong, they’ll hire French personnel.

For France, military emergencies and priorities have shifted due to the war in Ukraine. While European armies must now prepare for a potential high-intensity conflict, the fight against jihadism in the Sahel has become a lower priority.

After Mali, Niger and Burkina Faso, the historic bases in Chad, and then in Côte d’Ivoire were handed over at the start of 2025.

Macron’s Africa 'reset' stumbles as leaders call out colonial overtones

The reduction in French personnel has left a vacuum in Africa, increasingly filled by private military companies offering their services to states seeking to outsource a wide range of missions — from logistical support and site security to training and even the protection of public figures.

The Alliance of Sahel States, originally established as a mutual defence pact between Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso in September 2023, employs the services of Russian proxy forces — initially the Wagner Group, and later Africa Corps.

Many other nations have turned to different private military firms, including the Chinese company Beijing DeWe, which is securing the construction of the Mombasa–Naivasha railway line in Kenya. Meanwhile, mercenaries from Sadat, an international Turkish defence consultancy, are playing an increasingly prominent role in Libya.

In West Africa, private military companies are securing a growing number of contracts. British and American firms, with their extensive expertise in the field, are enjoying notable success.

A Mali's FAMA soldier attends a training with French Marine Special Operation Forces, in the Mali's Menaka army base, on 6 December 2021. © THOMAS COE / AFP

Recruitment of French personnel is on the rise. Companies such as Bancroft Global Development (USA), G4S (UK, specialising in the management of sensitive installations and secure transport), the Development Initiative (UK, based in Bermuda and specialising in mine clearance), Relyant Global LLC (USA, based in Tennessee, offering logistics and mine clearance services), and Erinys (UK, specialising in risk management and security provision in conflict zones) have all hired former French military staff for operations in Africa.

Western military sources told RFI that the American company Amentum is currently deploying several former French soldiers across Benin, Mali, Burkina Faso, Côte d’Ivoire, the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Central African Republic, Guinea, and even Somalia.

These personnel include at least two former legionnaires and a former telecommunications technician who previously worked at the French Ministry of the Armed Forces. They are serving as part of the US State Department's AfriCap programme.

Private companies and NGOs are increasingly turning to such security expertise, according to a senior French officer who closely monitors the evolving risk landscape in Africa.

“In French-speaking regions, where former French military personnel are recognised and respected, where they’ve previously served, know the terrain, and maintain their networks... Naturally, this appeals to American and British companies,” he explained.

A well-informed source within the armed forces questioned whether this situation should be considered normal.

“These former soldiers remain loyal to France and carry out their duties on the ground,” he told RFI’s Franck Alexandre. “But should we not have French private military companies operating under the control of local authorities? As it stands, French law does not permit this.”
France missing out

The growing presence of private military companies in Africa comes as no surprise to Peer de Jong. “In France, we don’t have this tool. We have never privatised the military, so we are lagging behind. Today, the Russians, the Chinese, the Turks, and the Americans dominate this expanding market.”

He also emphasises the strong desire for sovereignty among African states.

“They no longer want a French army; they want service providers—men in civilian clothing,” de Jong adds.

French law, however, prohibits and penalises mercenary activity involving the use of force and weapons.

“For people in Africa, a white man who speaks French and carries a weapon, even in civilian clothes, is still seen as a French soldier or an agent of the DGSE [foreign intelligence service],” a member of staff at army headquarters in Paris told RFI.

French President Emmanuel Macron wanted to promote a vision called Africa-France, to break with the negative image of "Françafrique". ludovic MARIN / AFP

But de Jong believes France is simply missing out on a growing market.

“The Directorate of Defence Intelligence and Security [DRDS, a French intelligence agency] constantly expresses concern over former French soldiers joining private military companies. They argue it damages the image of the armed forces. However, private military companies are a highly effective tool of influence and, what’s more, they are inexpensive, as they are funded by donors such as the European Union.”

The French army is also contending with major disinformation campaigns in Africa, orchestrated by Moscow and its proxies in the Wagner Group. These campaigns have significantly altered both France’s military posture and its communications strategy on the continent.

For over a decade, people have accused French soldiers of committing crimes or seeking to revive "Françafrique". These narratives continue to fuel widespread belief in the existence of secret French bases in Benin and Nigeria..

“This false information circulates widely and even influences discussions within circles of power,” a French soldier recently returned from West Africa told RFI. “It’s pure misinformation with no foundation, but proving that something doesn’t exist is extremely difficult.”

For now, all these experts agree that France is not prepared to officially deploy soldiers—whether from the regular army or private security firms—to Africa again.

Elon Musk's tweets: Investigating the billionaire's anti-European rhetoric

05:34

The FRANCE 24 Observers collaborated with France Info and Belgium's RTBF to analyse Elon Musk's rhetoric on X. © France Médias Monde graphic studio

The Observers

FRANCE24
Issued on: 19/05/2025 

By: Alijani Ershad

Nathan Gallo|

Quang Pham

The FRANCE 24 Observers collaborated with France Info and Belgium's RTBF to analyse the rhetoric of Elon Musk, one of Trump's closest advisers. This two-part investigation, conducted by the Médias Francophones Publics, examines the X owner's social media posts, documenting how the billionaire is propagating anti-Ukraine sentiment and posting tweets in support of the European far right.

"I use my tweets to express myself,” Musk said in 2018. Seven years later, and three years after he bought Twitter, Musk uses his own platform, now known as X, to express himself more freely than ever.

With his criticism of Europe and its institutions, attacks on Ukraine and President Volodymyr Zelensky in recent months, Musk has become a vocal supporter of the US presidential camp's line.

Journalists from Belgium’s RTBF, the FRANCE 24 Observers, and France Info, collaborating under the umbrella of the French-speaking public media association MFP (Médias Francophones Publics), looked at the 15,485 posts published or shared by Musk between November 4, 2024, the day before Trump’s election, and April 4, 2025.

Click on the player above to watch the full report.

Read our two-part investigation on FRANCE 24's website.

ICYMI

India-Pakistan conflict: AI-generated or edited fake satellite images flood social media

Since a ceasefire was agreed on May 10, India and Pakistan are at odds over the exact toll of the four days of clashes that followed an attack in Kashmir. On the social media platform X, internet users from both countries are sharing satellite images purportedly documenting the destruction caused by their respective armies’ strikes. But a number of these images are fake or generated and altered with artificial intelligence.

Pakistani and Indian online users are sharing fake satellite images of the destruction caused by the recent clashes between India and Pakistan. © X

OBSERVER
By: Quang Pham
FRANCE24

Issued on: 16/05/2025 - 

The weapons have fallen silent but the image war rages on. From May 6 to 10, India and Pakistan engaged in military clashes following a deadly attack on Hindu tourists in Indian-administered Kashmir on April 22. Pakistan claims to have destroyed several pieces of equipment at Indian military bases, but India denounces disinformation and says it successfully hit Pakistani military installations.

On X, Pakistani and Indian internet users have been sharing alleged satellite images to illustrate the damage purportedly inflicted by their respective armies. But several of these images are fake.

An AI-enhanced hangar photo

On May 12, an Indian account posted a satellite image on X supposedly showing the aftermath of an Indian strike. The remarkably clear image prompted admiration. “The picture is so sharp that it looks like it was taken with a drone. Indian satellites are very powerful,” a Facebook account commented.

According to another commenter, the photo allegedly shows a hangar at Pakistan’s Bholari airbase destroyed by the Indian military.
This photograph of a hangar published on May 12, 2025, has been altered using AI. © X

But this photo is partly fake: it has been altered by artificial intelligence.

Thanks to a reverse image search (click here to find out how), we were able to find the origin of this image on a Reddit forum. The user who shared the image confirms that AI was used to enhance a satellite image of the strike.

At left is a satellite image provided by Mawar and taken on May 11, 2025. At right is the image enhanced with AI. © Maxar Technologies / X.

A hangar at Pakistan’s Bholari airbase was indeed partially damaged. Our team obtained a satellite image showing the base on May 11 from Maxar. This image shows damage to the hangar’s roof. However, this satellite image has notable differences compared to the photograph shared on X, which confirms that the latter was generated by AI.

Compared to the original photograph, the image shared on X shows several inconsistencies. A low wall located on the left side of the hangar has disappeared, and the roof patterns do not match. The roof strips are arranged horizontally on the left side, while they are positioned vertically on the right side. In the image provided by Maxar, the hangar is visible from a distance. The AI-generated image, on the other hand, is a close-up of the hangar, likely in an attempt to show the damage caused by the Indian strike in a more dramatic way.
Fake craters at Jammu base in India

On May 11, a pro-Pakistan online user posted a satellite image purportedly showing damage caused by Pakistani forces on India’s Jammu airbase, in the Indian-administered part of Kashmir.

This image was supposedly taken after Pakistani strikes. It depicts a series of six craters on the airport's runway and adjacent buildings.

An online user shared on May 11 a photograph supposedly showing the damage inflicted by the Pakistan army on the Indian base of Jammu. But this photo has been altered. © X

However, the open-source intelligence analyst Aurora Intel showed how this satellite image has been graphically altered to add damage.

An image taken on May 11 by the Sentinel-2 satellite shows that the Indian airbase is actually intact. None of the six craters visible in the image shared on X appear on the Sentinel-2 image, which was taken the day after the alleged Pakistani strikes.

At the top is a satellite image allegedly showing India’s Jammu airbase shared by a pro-Pakistan online user on May 11, 2025. At the bottom is a satellite image taken by the Sentinel-2 satellite on May 11, 2025, on which no damage is visible. The green squares have been added by the FRANCE 24 Observers team. © Copernicus / X

Destruction of Indian S-400 missile battery? Image is doctored

Following the alleged loss of one or several Rafale fighter jets, India has allegedly lost another piece of advanced military equipment: a battery of the S-400 missile, the Indian army’s most sophisticated air defence system. This claim comes from pro-Pakistan internet users who posted a satellite image of India’s Adampur airbase in Punjab.

Two craters can be seen in this image, which garnered over a million views on X. These craters are being presented as proof of the battery’s destruction.

An internet user claims that an S-400 missile battery was destroyed by the Pakistani army. But the image he shares has been altered to add craters. © X

As the open-source intelligence analyst Damien Symon points out, the satellite image has been doctored. No sign of a crater is visible on an image of the Adampur base taken by the Sentinel-2 satellite on May 11, after the ceasefire.
At right is an image shared on X on May 12, 2025, allegedly showing the destruction of an S-400 missile battery. At left is a satellite image taken by the Sentinel-2 satellite on May 11, 2025. No crater is visible in the photo taken by Sentinel-2. © Copernicus / X

The Pakistani army has officially claimed the destruction of an S-400 missile battery in Adampur. However, satellite images presented during a briefing on May 12 show no visible signs of damage. For his part, the Indian government press service stated that Pakistan’s claim was “fake” and “baseless”.

On May 13, the Indian government released a video of a speech held by Prime Minister Narendra Modi at the Adampur base. In the background, the intact tubes of an S-400 missile launcher can be seen.

A number of Indian media outlets have presented this video as sufficient proof to invalidate Pakistani claims. However, accounts supporting the Pakistani army have countered that this presentation of the facts was misleading.

They argue that the Pakistani forces never claimed to have destroyed the S-400 missiles themselves, but only their radars. So far, however, the Pakistani government has provided no visual and independently verifiable evidence of any such destruction.

Chemical-free farming brings life back to rural France

DOWN TO EARTH © FRANCE 24

Issued on: 26/05/2025 - 

08:34 min

From the show

Faced with widespread chemical pollution and a dramatic collapse in biodiversity, farmers and scientists in western France have been testing a revolutionary farming model for over 30 years. No pesticides, no synthetic fertilisers – just nature. And it works: steady yields, stable incomes, and a thriving ecosystem. A one-of-a-kind collaboration in Europe.

Our Synthetic Environment

Libcom.org

https://files.libcom.org › files › Bookchin M. Our ...

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by M Bookchin · Cited by 343 — Illness may occur under "favorable" as well as "unfavorable" environmental conditions. Heart disease, cancer, arthritis, and diabetes-the most important.

101 pages

Silent Spring

United Diversity Library

https://library.uniteddiversity.coop › Silent_Spring...

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“Silent Spring is a devastating attack on human carelessness, greed and irresponsibility. It should be read by every American who does not want it to be the ...

155 pages

Bottled watergate: Why did French government cover for Perrier?

FRANCE24

Issued on: 22/05/2025 
From the show
42:05

Is it something in the water? Why insist on bottled brands at every meal when in a country like France, it flows freely from the tap – even if it’s not exactly free. We’ll ask about old habits and new realities that force a rethink of what we drink.

Anger bubbling over this week with the French senate concluding that the government “at the highest level” covered up for Nestlé which continued to put the words "natural mineral water" on bottles and cans of iconic brands such as Perrier even though the threat of bacteria and pollution have long forced the Swiss food giant to filter the output of its spring in southeast France. Wherein lies the real issue here… for consumers… citizens…

… and for the planet? We often cover stories about water scarcity. But it’s also water management, in this instance how we provide and distribute drinking water. Whose job is it to make sure that it’s clean, that it’s fairly meted out? And who gets to profit from the service of providing this vital necessity?

Produced by François Picard, Rebecca Gnignati, Juliette Laffont, Jimena Morales-Velasco, Alessandro Xenos.


Our guests

Henri LANDESLecturer, Sciences Po Paris

Philippe MOREAU-CHEVROLETProfessor of political communication, Sciences Po

Audrey LINKENHELDVice-President, Senatorial inquiry committee for bottled water manufacturers

Peter GLEICKAuthor, "Bottled and Sold: The Story Behind Our Obsession With Bottled Water"

By: 

François PICARD
Rebecca GNIGNATI

Video by: François PICARD

Forced labour, disease and conflict: The hidden side of industrial fishing in Saya de Malha

SAYA DE MALHA – Near-shore fishing stocks in Thailand and Sri Lanka are increasingly depleted and more and more fishing boats are drawn to the remote, abundant waters of the Saya de Malha Bank. But for distant-water crews on the high seas, living conditions on board are often extremely challenging. Fishermen grapple with long sailing times, malnutrition and conflict on perilous journeys that sometimes end in death.

By: Outlaw Ocean Project

Issued on: 14/05/2025 -

 © Studio graphique France Médias Monde

In October 2022, a British-American couple, Kyle and Maryanne Webb, were sailing their yacht through a remote area of the Indian Ocean between Mauritius and Seychelles, just south of the Saya de Malha Bank, the world’s largest seagrass field. The Webbs were sailing enthusiasts and had covered tens of thousands of miles on their vessel, the Begonia, over the previous years. As they passed the bank, they spotted a small fishing vessel, about 55 feet in length, painted bright yellow and turquoise, with about a dozen red and orange flags billowing from the roof of its cabin. It was a Sri Lankan gillnet boat called, in Sinhali, the Hasaranga Putha.

Looking gaunt and desperate, the crew told the Webbs that they had sailed roughly 2,000 miles from their home port, in Beruwala, Sri Lanka. They had been at sea for two weeks, they said, but had only caught four fish. They begged the Webbs for food, soda and cigarettes. The Webbs gave them what they could, including fresh water, then headed on their way. "They were clearly in a struggling financial position, "Mrs. Webb said. "It broke my heart to see the efforts they feel they must go to provide for their families."

Read moreThe Saya de Malha Bank, a 'forgotten ecosystem' in need of protection

A month later, again near the Saya de Malha Bank, the Hasaranga Putha hailed another vessel – the South African ocean research and supply ship, S.A. Agulhas II, who was on an expedition in Saya de Malha for the environmental non-profit Monaco Explorations. By this time, the Sri Lankan crew was almost out of fuel and begged for diesel. The scientists did not have the right type of petrol to offer but they still boarded a dinghy and brought the fishers water and cigarettes. Grateful, the Sri Lankans gave them fish in return. The Hasaranga Putha would remain at sea for another six months before returning to Colombo in April 2023.

The scientists aboard the Monaco Explorations research vessel provided assistance to the Sri Lankans by delivering water, food, and soda, but they did not have the type of fuel the smaller vessel required. (2022) © Monaco Explorations/The Outlaw Ocean Project

A perilous journey

Hundreds of miles from the nearest port, the Saya de Malha Bank is one of the most remote areas on the planet, which means it can be a harrowing workplace for the thousands of fishers from a half dozen countries that make the perilous journey to reach it. The farther from shore that vessels travel, and the more time they spend at sea, the more the risks pile up. Dangerous storms, deadly accidents, malnutrition, and physical violence are common threats faced by distant-water crews. Each year, a fleet of several dozen Sri Lankan gill-netters makes some of the longest trips made to the area, often in the least equipped boats.

Some of the vessels that fish the Saya de Malha Bank engage in a practice called transshipment, where they offload their catch to refrigerated carriers without returning to shore, so that they can remain fishing on the high seas for longer periods of time. Fishing is the most dangerous occupation in the world, and more than 100,000 fishermen die on the job each year. When they do, particularly on longer journeys far from shore, it is not uncommon for their bodies to be buried at sea.

Sri Lankan gillnetters are not the only fishing vessels making perilous journeys to reach the rich and biodiverse Saya de Malha Bank. Thai fishmeal trawlers also target these waters, traveling more than 2,500 nautical miles from the port of Kantang. In January 2016, for example, three Thai trawlers left the Saya de Malha Bank and returned to Thailand. During the journey, 38 Cambodian crew members fell ill, and by the time they returned to port, six had already died. The remaining sick crew were hospitalised and treated for beriberi, a disease caused by a deficiency of Vitamin B1 or thiamine. Symptoms include tingling, burning, numbness, difficulty breathing, lethargy, chest pain, dizziness, confusion, and severe swelling.

Easily preventable, yet fatal if left untreated, beriberi has historically appeared in prisons, asylums, and migrant camps, but it has largely been stamped out. Experts say that when it occurs at sea, beriberi often indicates criminal neglect. One medical examiner described it as "slow-motion murder" because it is so easily treatable and avoidable.

The disease has become more prevalent on distant-water fishing vessels in part because ships stay so long at sea, a trend facilitated by transshipment. Working practices involving hard labour and extensive working hours cause the body to deplete vitamin B1 at a faster metabolic rate to produce energy, the Thai government concluded in a report on the deaths. Further research by Greenpeace found that some of the workers were victims of forced labour.

Crime on the high seas

Today, fewer vessels from the Thai fleet are traveling to Saya de Mahla, but some still make the trip, and questions about their working conditions linger. In April 2023, one of those vessels, the Chokephoemsin 1, a bright blue 90-foot trawler, set out for the Saya de Malha Bank with a crew member named Ae Khunsena, who boarded the ship in Samut Prakan, Thailand, for a five-month tour, according to a report compiled by Stella Maris, a non-profit organisation that helps fishers. As is typical on high-seas vessels, the hours were long and punishing. Khunsena earned 10,000 baht, or about $288, per month, according to his contract.

Read moreIn the Saya de Malha Bank, sharks are being hunted to extinction for their fins

In one of his last calls to his family through Facebook, Khunsena said he had witnessed a fight that resulted in more than one death. He said the body of a crew member who was killed was brought back to the ship and kept in the freezer. When his family pressed for details, Khunsena said he would tell them more later. He added that another Thai crew member who also witnessed the killing had been threatened with death and so he fled the ship while it was still near shore along the Thai coast. Khunsena’s family spoke to Khunsena for the last time on July 22, 2023. A company official contested this claim and said no such fight happened and added that there was an observer from the Department of Fisheries aboard the vessel, who would have reported such an incident had it happened.

On July 29, while working in waters near Sri Lanka, Khunsena went overboard, off the stern of the ship. The incident was captured on a ship security camera. A man listed as Khunsena’s employer on his contract named Chaiyapruk Kowikai told Khunsena’s family that he had jumped. The ship’s captain then spent a day unsuccessfully searching the area to rescue him, before returning to fishing, Kowikai said.

The vessel returned to port in Thailand roughly two months later. Police, company and insurance officials eventually concluded that Khunsena’s death was likely a suicide. This claim seemed to be backed up by the onboard footage, which did not show anyone near him when he went over the side of the boat.

In September, 2024, a reporting team from the Outlaw Ocean Project visited Khunsena’s village. Settled by rice farmers about a century ago, Non Siao is located in Bua Lai District, Nakhon Ratchasima, roughly two hundred miles to the northeast of Bangkok. The reporting team interviewed Khusena’s mother and cousin as well as the local labour inspector, police chief, aid worker and an official from the company that owned the ship. While the police and company officials said the death was likely a suicide, Khusena’s family avidly disagreed. "Why would he jump?" said Palita, Khunsena’s cousin, explaining why she highly doubted that Khusena took his own life. "He didn't have any problems with anyone." Sitting on the ground under an overcast sky as she spoke with the reporter in a follow-up conversation by video chat, Palita went silent and looked down at her phone. "He wanted to see me," added Khusena’s mother, Boonpeng Khunsena, who also doubted his suicide, since he kept saying in calls that he intended to be home by Mother’s Day. His family instead speculated that Khusena had likely witnessed a violent crime and therefore to silence him, he had been coerced to jump overboard.

As is often the case with crimes at sea, where evidence is limited, witnesses are few and frequently unreliable, it is difficult to know whether Khusena died due to foul play. Perhaps, as his family speculated in interviews with The Outlaw Ocean Project, he had witnessed a violent crime and, consequently, had been forced to jump overboard. Perhaps, instead, he jumped willingly from the ship, a suicidal gesture likely driven by depression or mental health issues. In either scenario, the point remains the same: these distant-water ships are traveling so far from shore that the working and living conditions are brutal and sometimes violent. And these very conditions are likely playing a role in sinister outcomes.

A transit route for migrants

And yet, the human tragedy that criss-crosses this remote patch of high seas is not just tied to fishers. The Saya de Malha Bank has also become a transit route for migrants fleeing Sri Lanka. Since 2016, hundreds of Sri Lankans have attempted to make the perilous journey on fishing boats to the French-administered island of Reunion, in the Indian Ocean, some making the journey directly from Saya de Malha. Those who do succeed in making landfall on Reunion are often repatriated. In one case, on December 7, 2023, a Sri Lankan vessel that had spent the previous three months fishing in Saya de Malha, the Imul-A-0813 KLT, illegally entered the waters around Reunion. The seven crew members were apprehended by local authorities and repatriated to Sri Lanka two weeks later. Joining them on the repatriation flight were crew members of two other Sri Lankan fishing vessels that had previously been detained by Reunion authorities.

With near-shore stocks overfished in Thailand and Sri Lanka, vessel owners send their crews further and further from shore in search of a worthwhile catch. That is what makes the Saya de Malha – far from land, poorly monitored, and with a bountiful ecosystem – such an attractive target. But the fishers forced to work there live a precarious existence, and for some, the long journey to the Saya de Malha is the last they ever take.

This article was written by Ian Urbina, Maya Martin, Joe Galvin, Susan Ryan, and Austin Brush - Editors at The Outlaw Ocean Project.

The Outlaw Ocean Project is a non-profit journalism organisation based in Washington DC that produces investigative stories about human rights, labour and environmental concerns on the two thirds of the planet covered by water. The organisation is run by Ian Urbina, an award-winning journalist who used to work for The New York Times.

Most of the stories are reported at least partially at sea. In the United States, the group publishes its stories in various news outlets, including the New Yorker, NBC News, The Atlantic and The Washington Post. The reporting is also regularly translated into other languages, particularly French and Spanish, and broadcast in partnership with dozens of foreign newspapers, magazines, radio and television outlets.