Rohingya fishermen are being extorted at army checkpoints when they bring their fish to the central market, said a businessman from Maungdaw. Soldiers stationed in the model village of Kharay May village are stealing their best catch when they travel to the market.
“The fishermen tried to sell their fishes in Maungdaw market to get more money but now the army personnel are taking their best fish,” said one fisherman.
The army is in cahoots with agents that charge inflated taxes on fishermen’s’ catches in southern Maungdaw. Both the agents and the military try to convince the fishermen to sell them their fish at low prices.
“The agent collected allot of money from us. It made it hard to run our business.”
Fishermen are travelling to the market in central Maungdaw to get higher prices, but they still have to pay up at any checkpoint along the way, a village administration officer told the Kaladan Press Network.
The fishermen are already struggling to survive but the army still takes the best of their catch, the officer said.
