Muslims still living in junta-controlled Sittwe Township in Arakan (Rakhine) State are suffering on multiple fronts and face a lack of food, work and increasing food prices. Some Muslim families in Sittwe Township can no longer afford rice and are having to survive on sweet potatoes instead.

The World Food Programme (WFP) had provided assistance to people in need in Sittwe Township. That had offered some relief to Muslims, but the WFP assistance was halted in April, which has made many Muslims’ situation even more precarious.

A Muslim man living in Sittwe Township said: “Some families in the IDP [internally displaced people] camps have no choice but to rely on sweet potatoes to get by. Ever since fishing was banned, we’ve had no work at all. We’re deeply worried that our situation will keep getting worse.”

The Muslim communities in villages like Thaechaung, Baydar, Barser, and Bumay in Sittwe Township used to rely on fishing for food and income by selling their surplus catch to nearby Arakan villages.

But the junta has banned people in Arakan State from fishing since fighting resumed in the state in November 2023. This meant that many Muslim’s who depended on fishing for their livelihoods are now suffering economic hardship.

The situation has been made worse because since November 2023, the junta has been blockading main trade routes in Arakan State and preventing food, medicines and other goods from reaching their destinations, leading to a rise in prices.

Also, in November 2023 the junta started blockading main trade routes in Arakan State preventing food, medicines and other goods from reaching their destinations, leading to a lack of availability and steep price rises.

A Muslim woman from Sittwe Township said: “The price of rice, oil, meat, fish, and vegetables has gone through the roof. These days, even 50,000 MMK isn’t enough to cover two meals a day. People are really struggling. Offshore fishing is completely banned now — and if anyone tries to fish in secret, the junta seizes their catch and even arrests them.”

An official from a civil society organisation who wished to remain anonymous explained that people’s situation was being made worse because the junta is actively using the infamous Four Cuts strategy, first used in the 1960s. This is a policy of collectively punishing whole communities by isolating them, cutting off all their supplies, funds and communication to deny them to resistance forces in the area and to drive a wedge between the resistance and the local population. This obviously causes great suffering in communities.

The official said: “This is all part of the junta’s infamous Four Cuts strategy. It prevents people from fleeing hardship or finding work, while also blocking supply routes. The junta wants locals to think the suffering is just due to the war, but it’s deliberately worsening conditions to reinforce that message.”