Forced Displacement, Violence against Women, and Conflicts in the Chittagong Hill Tracts, Bangladesh: A Scoping Review

Abstract

Background: The Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) has witnessed over two and a half decades of an armed insurgency, beginning in the mid-1970s and formally ending on 2 December 1997, with the signing of an accord, popularly known as the CHT Accord between the Government of Bangladesh (GOB) and the Parbattya Chattogram Jana Shonghoti Samity (PCJSS), the political body which had carried on the movement for autonomy of the CHT within the state of Bangladesh. Although a peace accord was signed, peace remains elusive in the region. Methodology: Using the scoping review based on York methodology, a comprehensive search of published academic articles, conference proceedings, and grey literature was carried out through PubMed, Google, and Google scholar, limited to English-written papers. Secondary data sources include newspapers, textbooks, public documents, and reports of various human rights organizations and NGOs. Results: This review reported that although the government of Bangladesh insists the military presence in CHT is for promoting conflict resolution, many claim that it has instead worsened the conflicts. Military personnel are often the alleged perpetrators and has largely enjoyed impunity. There has been recorded large displacement of indigenous people, violent acts perpetrated against women, profound land-grabbing by the Bengali settlers, and significant neglect of the human rights of the CHT people as a result of decades of conflict. Conclusion: More than twenty-five years have passed since the signing of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Accord, but the majority of its provisions remain unimplemented or only partially implemented, especially the principal issues including settlement of land disputes, demilitarization and the devolution of authority to local institutions and violence perpetrated acts against women and the community at large. The Government of Bangladesh should take necessary and effective steps against these decades-old issues to resolve them as a national problem. Indigenous groups are part of the nation, and the country's overall development is impossible without their participation.