Attacks On Fishermen and Refugees
Regular incidents in which fishermen and refugees were shot by Myanmar Army troops have occurred on the Naf River. These include, but are not limited to, the following events:
February, 1992- The Lun Htin, A Burmese paramilitary force killed 20 refugees while crossing the Naf river to Bangladesh.
March 24, 1994- Members of the Myanmar Army's Western Military Command patrolling the Naf River found a group of Rohingya Muslims fishing from a small country boat. The soldiers tried to extort money from the fishermen, but when they were unable to do so, tied them up with rope and brought them to Balu Khali Village in Maungdaw Township. Eight of the Rohingya fishermen were interrogated and tortured for five days and then they were all shot by firing squad.
October 27, 2001- Burmese border troops killed one Bangladeshi man, wounded two and abducted 13 while they were fishing in the Naf River.
January 22, 2005- 70 people were shot and killed when Burmese border guards opened fire on a group of 50 boats attempting to cross the river. The border guards claimed that they believed the boats contained "smuggled rice," implying that their actions, culminating in the mass shooting of unarmed people was justified.
Summer, 2012- Hundreds if not thousands of Burmese Rohingya people have been beaten, raped, killed or forced to flee their homes across the Naf River to Bangladesh and on July 11, 2012 Burmese President Thein Sein suggested that the Rohingya people be expelled from Myanmar or have the UN relocate the 300,000 Rohingya people living in Myanmar, a policy the UN quickly rejected.
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Famous quotes containing the words attacks on, attacks, fishermen and/or refugees:
“We are seeing an increasing level of attacks on the “selfishness” of women. There are allegations that all kinds of social ills, from runaway children to the neglected elderly, are due to the fact that women have left their “rightful” place in the home. Such arguments are simplistic and wrongheaded but women are especially vulnerable to the accusation that if society has problems, it’s because women aren’t nurturing enough.”
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“As they are not seen on their way down the streams, it is thought by fishermen that they never return, but waste away and die, clinging to rocks and stumps of trees for an indefinite period; a tragic feature in the scenery of the river bottoms worthy to be remembered with Shakespeare’s description of the sea-floor.”
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