Arakan Army Wants to Stake a Claim in Border Trade!

Chittagong Bureau    |    ০২:৪৯ পিএম, ২০২৫-০১-২৭

The Arakan Army, a rebel group from Myanmar, is continuing its inspections of cargo boats bringing goods from Myanmar. Traders believe that the Arakan Army is conducting these inspections as a strategy to pressure and claim a share in the border trade.

Traders say that the Arakan Army is actively intervening in border trade. They are halting cargo boats under the pretext of inspections and confiscating a large amount of goods.

A trader at the land port mentioned, "The Arakan Army is stopping cargo boats under the guise of inspections and seizing goods. Their main goal seems to be to put pressure on traders and claim a share of the border trade."

Ehtheshamul Haque Bahadur, the General Secretary of the Teknaf Land Port Clearing & Forwarding (C&F) Agent Association, and a trader, said, "We, the traders, are very worried. Everyone needs to work together to resolve this issue, or else traders will close down their businesses in Teknaf."

Meanwhile, three cargo boats that were seized by the Arakan Army 10 days ago from the mouth of the Naf River are yet to be returned. The latest update is that two boats, Saturu and MB Harikiu Leth, were returned last Monday morning, but one boat is still in the custody of the Arakan Army. However, the returned boats carry 27,222 bags of goods.

Syed Mohammad Anwar Hossain, the manager of United Land Port at Teknaf Land Port, said, "The Arakan Army still has another cargo boat. There are about 30,000 bags of various goods on it. Goods are being unloaded from the two returned boats."

Regarding the matter, Nurul Kayes Saddam, owner of the importer Kayes Enterprise, said, "One cargo boat has not been released yet. It contains my goods, along with others. The two cargo boats before it were released, but it's unclear why this one hasn't been released yet."

Teknaf Upazila Executive Officer (UNO) Sheikh Ehsan Uddin stated, "One cargo boat is still not released, and we are investigating the matter."