Maungdaww, Arakan State: Rohingya fishermen in Maungdaw Township are fighting for survival as the Burmese authorities have prohibited them from fishing since the third week of July, said Hashim, a fisherman from southern Maungdaw.
“On July 30th, a group of fishermen went to the Aley Than Kyaw police station in southern Maungdaw to meet the government official in charge of granting permission to go fishing in waters nearby Maungdaw," added Hashim.
The officer told them that higher authorities had ordered the police to ban Muslim fishermen from fishing in the area, and that he didn’t know the reason for the order, said another fisherman who wished to remain anonymous.
“I have five family members to feed and it’s very difficult for provide for my family now," Hashim told Kaladan Press.
Asharff, an elder from southern Maungsdaw, said that the authorities have been trying to cripple or even destroy the Rohingya community’s economic well-being in retaliation for refusing to participate in the official census and the more recent “population data collection” process.
“Rohingyas strongly oppose involvement in the census, as the government has attempted to identify them as ‘Bengali’ instead of ‘Rohingya’,” said Asharff.
