On a remote Indonesian island, a Cambodian fisherman missing for seven years continues to await his embassy’s assistance, after he allegedly escaped a trawler onto which he had been trafficked.

Thik Seangly, 28, called his father from a borrowed phone yesterday and reported that he has heard from no one despite fleeing over one month ago.

Never having received wages while kept on a trawler illegally plying Indonesian waters, Seangly, one of his Cambodian crew members and a third Cambodian man have all relied on the kindness of islanders to survive, according to the victim’s father.

“I encourage his parents to submit a letter providing clear information, especially his phone number, so that our embassy there can intervene,” said Foreign Ministry spokesman Koy Kuong.

But rights groups assisting Seangly say without more details, alerting the government would be fruitless.