The wife of one of the Kiribati seafarers being detained in Spain for a drugs offence has asked President Anote Tong to intervene.
Erika Kition says she has met the President asking him for help but the president referred her to the ministry of foreign affairs.
Mr Kition says she has also approached her husband's former employer, South Pacific Maritime Services, but was told they could do nothing.
In July, her husband along with three others were caught in possession of drugs in Barcelona where they were arrested.
Five Kiribati seafarers are in foreign prisons for drug offenses, with one in the China for nearly 10 years.
The ministry of foreign affairs says it will comment once it gets approval from the secretary.
