Livelihood of Teknaf fishermen under threat

A ban on fishing in the Naf river and unavailability of work due to the Rohingyas influx has put the livelihoods of 8,000 fishermen in jeopardy in Cox’s Bazar’s Teknaf upazila.

The ban, which was imposed on August 25, 2017 by the government to curb yaba trafficking into Bangladesh and the ferry of Rohingyas, is still in force.

The situation has aggravated over time as locals struggle to find work as rickshaw pullers or temporary workers for the availability of cheap Rohingya labourers.

Fishermen have urged the government to lift the ban and adopt strict monitoring to stop yaba trade via the Naf river.

“We will cooperate to help the government catch those fishermen who smuggle yaba or ferry Rohingyas under the umbrella of fishing,” Gura Mia, president of Naitong Fishermen Association, a village adjacent to Naf River, told The Daily Star recently.

“All we want is the government to lift the ban for the sake of our livelihoods.”

At least 50,000 family members of 13,000 fishermen are in a dire situation due to the ban on the 52-kilometre-long river, he added.

“The ban could at least be lifted during the daytime and imposed at night, as that is when the unscrupulous fishermen might ply the waters,” he suggested.

About 170 families of Naitong para used to live off fishing at the river prior to the Rohingyas influx. They are now living in debt, he said.

“We don’t know how long we can continue to live by borrowing money,” said Md Ibrahim, former president of Naitong Para Fishermen Association, told The Daily Star.

They organised a human chain thrice in the last two years and submitted memorandums to the deputy commissioner (DC) in Cox’s Bazar and upazila nirbahi officer concerned to solve our crisis. But it was in vain, he added.

They received 20 kilograms of rice in the first year of the ban and 40 kilograms in the second year. “This is all that we received as assistance from the government, which is not enough for us.”

According to Teknaf Upazila Fisheries Office, there are 8,000 registered and 5,000 unregistered fishermen in Teknaf upazila.

Delwar Hossen, senior fisheries officer of Teknaf upazila, told The Daily Star they were running a project in cooperation from World Fish, a non-government organisation to ensure alternative income generation for the fishermen.

But the fishermen said they were not made involved in any income generation project.

Contacted Mohammad Ashraful Afsar, additional deputy commissioner (ADC revenue) in Cox’s Bazar told The Daily Star that the ban was enforced to tackle the yaba trading and stop Rohingyas to be ferried using Naf river.

‘After two years we assessed the situation and will take the hardship the fishermen of into account’, he said, adding that they wrote to the high ups to find a way on how to resume the fishing to alleviate the sufferings of local fishermen.