A group of Filipino fishermen have asked the United Nations to stop China harassing them as they cast their nets around a disputed South China Sea shoal, their lawyer said Thursday.

The fishermen allege that China, which has controlled the Scarborough Shoal since a brief 2012 stand-off with the Philippines, is violating their rights to food and livelihood by driving them away, lawyer Harry Roque told AFP.

Signed by 30 fishermen, the petition was sent via email to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and others in the organisation in Geneva on Wednesday, he said.

"They are asking for a remedy. (What they want is) no one telling them where and when they can fish," Roque said.

The current situation was "very, very sad" he said, adding that some of the men are now forced to fish in shallow waters with little success, while many of their wives work abroad to support the family.

The shoal lies 220 kilometres (140 miles) off the main Philippine island of Luzon and 650 kilometres (408 miles) from Hainan island, the nearest major Chinese land mass.

The Philippines claims the shoal is within its 200-nautical mile exclusive economic zone.

The government has lodged a separate appeal before a United Nations arbitration tribunal to declare China's sovereignty claim over most of the South China Sea as illegal.

In April, Philippine authorities accused the Chinese coast guard of robbing Filipino fishermen of their catch at gunpoint at Scarborough Shoal and shooing away one group with a water cannon.

In their petition, the Filipino fishermen cited another supposed incident in April last year when Chinese authorities on speedboats and armed with assault rifles allegedly drove them away, shouting: "Go away, go away, three miles, China island," the 22-page "urgent appeal" read.

The 30 fishermen asked the United Nations to "remind, declare, and direct China and its state agents to cease and desist from violating (their) human rights-including the right to livelihood, the right to adequate food, and the right life".

China recently reinforced its claim over almost the entire South China Sea by building artificial islands on disputed reefs.

A recent poll showed eight in 10 Filipinos fear the festering sea dispute with China might lead to "armed conflict" with their powerful Asian neighbour.

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April