Manaung residents struggle to make ends meet due to junta fishing, travel bans

By Admin 15 Jul 2024

DMG Newsroom
15 July 2024, Manaung

Residents in Manaung Township, Arakan State, where there has been no fighting between the military and Arakkha Army (AA), are nonetheless facing livelihood hardships due to junta bans on fishing and sea travel, according to local fishermen.

Since renewed fighting broke out between the Myanmar military and AA on November 13, the regime has imposed bans on fishing and sea travel around Manaung Township.

A local fisherman said that most of the local people work random jobs as available, but that this is not enough to support their families.

“Even if we work every day, when we cannot keep up with the rise in commodity prices, fishermen like us become unemployed, and it becomes more difficult to support our families,” he explained.

Manaung Township consists of three islands off the coast of mainland Arakan State in the Bay of Bengal, and can only be accessed by sea or air.

Most of the locals in Manaung Township make their living from the fishing industry, while they also work in agriculture, livestock-rearing and other industries.

Basic food items are in short supply and prices are skyrocketing on Manaung Island due to the junta’s fishing and travel restrictions.

“Local fishermen do not yet catch fish commercially. If local fishermen catch fish nearby for their families due to rising food prices, the regime extorts 30,000 kyats per fishing boat,” said a resident in Manaung.

As fishing boats have been prevented from doing their jobs for an extended period, the daily lives of those who mainly depend on the fishing industry have been upended.

“If the fishing boats are not allowed to go out to sea, we will also have no work. Now we are in a state of famine,” said one such worker.

Clashes between the military and AA are ongoing in Thandwe, Taungup and Kyaukphyu townships, which are in close proximity to Manaung Township, with residents worried that the fighting will ultimately spread to the island township.