Myanmar’s armed rebel group, the Arakan Army, continues to detain Bangladeshi and Rohingya fishermen from the Naf River and the Bay of Bengal, keeping them in custody in conflict-hit Myanmar.
The armed group detained the fishermen when they unknowingly entered Myanmar territory while fishing in the river or the Bay.
Category
Number
Total fishermen still detained
165
Bangladeshis detained
81
Rohingyas detained
84
Fishermen returned by BGB
234
Bangladeshis returned
143
Rohingyas returned
91
At least 165 fishermen, including 81 Bangladeshis and 84 Rohingyas from camps for forcibly displaced Myanmar nationals at Ukhiya and Teknaf upazilas of Cox’s Bazar, who were detained between December 8, 2024, and May 12, 2026, are still in the custody of the Arakan Army, according to Border Guard Bangladesh data.
During the same period, the BGB brought back 234 fishermen, of them 143 were Bangladeshis and the rest 91 Rohingyas.
On the morning of March 28, members of the Arakan Army allegedly picked up 13 Bangladeshi fishermen from the Naf River near Shah Porir Dwip at Teknaf upazila of Cox’s Bazar. All of them are residents of Sabrang union and reportedly entered Myanmar territory while fishing, according to BGB-2 Battalion in Teknaf.
According to the fishermen, although the BGB managed to bring back the detained fishermen, the Arakan Army has not returned their boats since the beginning of 2025.
They said that buying an old boat cost Tk 2 lakh to Tk 3 lakh, while a new one cost Tk 10 lakh to Tk 12 lakh.
‘The Arakan Army has detained 67 or 68 fishermen or more since August 2025. The fishermen departed from the ghat under my supervision,’ Teknaf municipality’s Kaukhali Boat Owners’ Association president Sazed Ahmed said on Tuesday.
He said that the Arakan Army had not returned 14 boats seized during the detention of the fishermen.
‘Since November or December 2024, the Arakan Army has been stopping returning boats. The fishermen were brought back through negotiations by the BGB and the government,’ Sazed said.
Abu Bakar of Palongkhali union at Ukhiya upazila said on Wednesday that his cousin, Lutfor Rahman, was among the five fishermen picked up by the Arakan Army on November 14, 2024.
‘He is still missing,’ Abu Bakar said.
‘My cousin has yet to return, and we are waiting for him. We do not know whether he is alive or dead,’ he added.
On May 9, the BGB brought back 14 fishermen, including one Rohingya, from the custody of the Arakan Army. The fishermen had been detained in the Bay of Bengal at different times in 2025 and 2026, BGB officials said.
On February 16, the Arakan Army handed over 73 fishermen whom it had detained from the Bay of Bengal at different times in 2025.
Many of the fishermen alleged that they were tortured, including forced to starve, in custody.
Myanmar and Bangladesh share a 271-kilometre border.
BGB officials said that the Arakan Army currently controlled almost the entire border area on the Myanmar side and that Myanmar’s Border Guard Police no longer had any presence there.
Bangladesh foreign ministry’s Myanmar Wing director general Md Toufiq-ur-Rahman said that there was no scope for maintaining diplomatic relations with the Arakan Army and that Bangladesh could not formally communicate with the group to seek the release of detained fishermen.
‘The Arakan Army’s detention centres are not even proper jails. We have some informal engagement. We are now in a dilemma as we have to allow fishing for livelihoods while also ensuring that fishermen do not get caught by the rebel group,’ he added.
He also said that it was not clear whether all the fishermen had actually crossed the border or whether some had been abducted from Bangladesh territory.
The fishermen urged the government to demarcate the maritime border with floating buoys so that they could avoid accidentally crossing into Myanmar waters.
BGB director general Major General Mohammad Ashrafuzzaman Siddiqui could not be reached for comment over the phone. He also did not respond to the question sent via WhatsApp until Thursday evening.
New Age had yet to receive the answers for its queries from BGB’s Ramu sector commander Colonel Mohiuddin Ahmed until Thursday evening, which he had asked the daily to send via WhatsApp.
