Banned from boats in Myanmar, Rohingya fish on rafts of junk

THA PYAY TAW, Myanmar — Every day before sunrise, dozens of fishermen, shivering against the cold, shove out onto the Bay of Bengal on makeshift rafts made out of plastic jugs, bamboo and twine, just steps away from the sturdy and much safer wooden boats they had used for years.

The ban is one small part of a sweeping and violent counterinsurgency campaign in Rakhine state, home to the long-persecuted Rohingya Muslim minority, where authorities have been accused of widespread abuses.

Desperate to feed their families, Rohingya fishermen in the coastal villages that dot Rakhine’s Maungdaw district skirt the ban by setting out on dangerous, jerry-rigged rafts that use yellow cooking oil jugs to keep them afloat.

The latest outbreak of violence was triggered by October attacks on guard posts near the Bangladesh border that killed nine police officers.

While the attackers’ identities and motives are unclear, the government launched a massive counterinsurgency sweep through Rohingya areas in western Rakhine state.