The prolonged suspension of import-export operations at Teknaf Land Port, Bangladesh’s key trade gateway to Myanmar, has entered its seventh consecutive month, triggering severe economic fallout for local businesses, workers, and national revenue.
With cross-border trade halted since March 2025 due to escalating conflict between Myanmar’s military junta and the Arakan Army, which now controls the Rakhine border region, Teknaf Port has ground to a standstill. The government is losing an estimated Tk 40–50 crore in monthly customs and trade-related revenue, according to port officials, with total losses exceeding Tk 300 crore since the shutdown began.
On Tuesday, hundreds of affected workers, traders, and residents staged a human chain protest along the highway adjacent to the port, demanding immediate resumption of operations. Their message was urgent and unified: restore trade to save livelihoods and revive the local economy.
“We are not asking for charity. We are asking for the right to work,” said Liaqat Ali, a local trader who once facilitated cross-border shipments. “Myanmar-based business partners have millions of taka tied up in stalled transactions. If the port doesn’t reopen soon, many of us will be ruined.”
For daily wage laborers like Nezam Uddin, the closure has meant months without income. “I used to earn enough at the port to send my children to school and feed my family,” he said. “Now, we survive day to day. There is no work, no hope.”
The disruption stems from the Arakan Army’s blockade of cargo routes on the Myanmar side, preventing goods from reaching the border. Despite repeated appeals from Bangladeshi traders to the Deputy Commissioner’s office and the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, no diplomatic or logistical solution has emerged.
Ehtashamul Haque Bahadur, General Secretary of the Teknaf Land Port C&F Agent Association, confirmed that Myanmar-side traders are also facing severe distress. “They’ve lost access to essential supplies and markets. Both economies are suffering—but we’re the ones paying the price in silence.”
Sohel Ahmed, Revenue Officer at Teknaf Port, emphasized the fiscal impact: “Not a single taka in trade revenue has come from this port in seven months. At a time when the national exchequer is under pressure, this loss is significant.”
Local administration officials acknowledge the crisis but stress that the impasse lies beyond their control. Sheikh Ehsan Uddin, Upazila Executive Officer (UNO) of Teknaf, noted, “The port is fully operational from our side. The halt is entirely due to internal instability in Myanmar. We have escalated the matter to the highest levels of government.”
Yet for the hundreds whose livelihoods depend on this trade corridor, bureaucratic assurances offer little comfort. As the human chain dispersed under the October sun, one placard summed up the mood: “No Trade, No Life.”
With no clear end to the conflict in Rakhine State, Teknaf’s economic paralysis, and the human cost behind the numbers, continues to deepen.