In Asin Village, Ye Township, Mon State, junta forces and allied militia members abducted and extorted more than 50 migrant fishermen who were preparing to return home, locals reported.

On May 14, fishermen traveling in three Daihatsu Hijets were stopped and detained at the Livestock Zone checkpoint near Asin Village by a junta-aligned militia group led by Saw Naing Htwe.

The militia members held the fishermen overnight, extorted 200,000 MMK from each of them, and released them the following evening on May 15.

Most of those arrested were migrant fishermen from Pyapon and Dedaye townships in Ayeyarwady Region, as well as from Bago Region.

They faced arrest and extortion by the junta and the militia group as they returned home after the fishing season ended.

Fishing and rubber plantations are the main industries in Ye Township, employing many migrant workers.