Members of Bangladesh Coast Guard have detained 122 fishermen along with 19 fishing trawlers in the Naf River near Shahporir Dwip in Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar, for allegedly crossing into Myanmar waters. Among them, 93 are Rohingya.
The fishermen, however, claimed they were detained while returning after fishing.
According to the Coast Guard, the operation was conducted between 8 am and 11:30 am on Friday (August 29) in different areas of the Naf River adjacent to the Shahporir Dwip estuary, starting from Jaliapara in Teknaf municipality.
At a press briefing held later in the day at the Shahporir Dwip jetty, Lieutenant Commander Salahuddin Rashid Tanvir, in-charge of the Coast Guard Teknaf Station, said the ongoing conflict in Myanmar’s Rakhine State has placed the entire border region adjacent to Bangladesh under the control of the rebel Arakan Army.
He added that the Arakan Army regularly detains Bangladeshi fishermen who cross the zero line of the Naf River and enter Myanmar. “In such a situation, the Coast Guard intensified surveillance from 8 am to 11:30 am on Friday. During the patrol, 122 fishermen on 19 trawlers were detained and brought back while fishing inside Myanmar waters after crossing the zero line,” he said.
Rejecting the fishermen’s claims, Tanvir said: “Their words are baseless. In fact, before being detained by the Arakan Army for crossing into our waters, they were brought back by us.” He noted that among those detained are 29 Bangladeshis and 93 Rohingya, with legal procedures underway.
One of the detained trawler masters, Dil Muhammad, said: “Suddenly the Coast Guard signaled us to anchor at Shahporir Dwip jetty. But we never crossed Bangladesh’s border. After finishing fishing and returning, the Coast Guard brought us here.”
Another fisherman, Abdul Hakim, claimed: “We were returning after fishing east of the jetty when the Coast Guard told us to anchor. Later, we saw that they were saying they had taken us all into custody.”
Sources from the Trawler Owners’ Association and the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) said that over the past eight months, the Arakan Army has abducted at least 300 fishermen from the Naf River area along the Bangladesh-Myanmar border. Of them, 200 were rescued and brought back in several phases with the help of BGB, while the remaining 100 are still in Arakan Army custody.
In the last four days alone, 46 fishermen were reportedly taken away by the group.
