Buthidaung, June 6, 2024: A villager was shot for going to the waterways to catch fish, according to local sources.
Alam was fishing in the nearby river at 5:20 p.m. on Wednesday afternoon near his village in Goyana Fara when several shots were fired at him. It is assumed the assailants shot at him from the other side of the river.
Alam, whose leg has been blown away by what seems to be a bullet from an assault rifle crept up to his village at around 8 when locals saw him in the condition and carried him home.
The Arakan Army had ordered all Rohingyas to stay away from fishing activities in the area.
Since 2012, Rohingyas especially in Rakhine majority areas were cut off from the nearby waterways and woods by Rakhine nationalist gangs backed by government forces in the surrounding villages. The vast majority of Rohingyas in Arakan are dependent on cutting wood and fishing for their livelihoods.
Activists had often suspected the economic blockade was imposed to starve the Rohingyas out of the Rakhine majority areas without attracting undue attention from the outside world.
As a result, Rohingya villages suffered from food shortages but could not venture out of their neighbourhood without risking their lives.
In the last few days, allegations are mounting that the AA is also following similar measures in what is the beginning of another blueprint to expel Rohingyas especially from Buthidaung township by depriving them from livelihood sources.
Alam was only released in the preceding days when Myanmar army closed the notorious Buthidaung prison where many Rohingya activists were held.
Alam needs medical surgery to save his life and will lose his leg where the bullet hit.
