Her sons went to sea to feed the family. Before leaving they told their mother, Kohinoor Begum, "We will come back, pray for us." Six or seven months on, the elder son has not.

Kohinoor Begum is the wife of Abu Taher of Char Poragacha union in Ramgati upazila, Lakshmipur. Her two sons were detained by the Myanmar army in late March while fishing in the Bay of Bengal. The younger, Md Tahmid, 15, has returned; the elder, Md Tamjid, 20, is still held. Eight other fishermen's families in Ramgati and Kamalnagar are living with the same anxiety.

These men were the earners of their households. With them gone, some families are short of food and others are struggling to pay for their children's schooling.

According to relatives, a fishing trawler named Ma-Babar Doa set out into the Bay of Bengal from Hoanak in Maheshkhali upazila of Cox's Bazar on 23 March with 16 crew and fishermen on board, from various parts of Lakshmipur, Noakhali and Chattogram. Contact was lost the next day. Trawler owner Mizanur Rahman filed a general diary at Maheshkhali police station on 28 March; it later emerged that the Myanmar army had taken them.

Tahmid was released after more than five months in custody because of his age. He said the trawler was caught in a storm, lost its bearings and drifted towards Myanmar, where the country's forces detained the crew and sent them to prison. "Because I was young I was placed in the custody of a local member. Then I came home through the embassy. But it hurts when I think of my brother and the others who are still there," he said.

The fishermen from Lakshmipur still held, according to the list relatives have submitted, are Md Juwel, 30, of Char Gajaria in Ramgati; Farhad Hossain, 22, of Sonali village; Md Nirab, 39, Md Tamjid, 20, Md Rakib Hossain, 31, and Saddam Hossain, 33, of Char Poragacha; Md Mesbah Uddin, 42, of Char Gajaria; Md Liton, 31, of South Tumchar in Char Gazi; and Md Aji Ullah, 61, of Char Jagabandhu in Kamalnagar.

Ramgati UNO Sheikh Ehsan Uddin said the administration has contacted the relevant offices to bring the detained fishermen home, and that steps will also be taken to see that their families receive support.

Source: Samakal (report by Atowar Rahman Monir, Lakshmipur)