Eviction of Buddhist families

AT least 52 Buddhist families are living in fear and uncertainty following eviction from their homestead in Naikkhangchhari upazila of Bandarban. The victims were forced to leave their homes in Uttar Ghumdam Barua Para on Sunday after they were beaten up and their houses vandalised, allegedly at the behest of members of the ruling party. According to the locals, a Buddhist temple was also vandalised.

We are appalled that the families were evicted without proper rehabilitation, and that too, in a most inhumane, uncivilised and coercive manner. Although a court had given permission to evict 25 families to set up a rubber plantation, the locals claim that they had not been notified by the upazila administration. Rather, they were threatened by land grabbers and vested quarters in the area, and finally evicted when two ruling party members allegedly brought in over 100 Rohingya people to force the villagers to leave.

The locals also claim that the administration was complicit in the attack, as they had been “bought off” by the ruling men. These are serious allegations that must be investigated and perpetrators of violence brought to justice, irrespective of their party affiliation or administrative clout.

The eviction of indigenous and Buddhist communities in Naikkhangchhari upazila in Bandarban to satisfy commercial appetite of land grabbers has become common practice, and usually the same process of intimidation and violence is followed. We urge the government to stop this systematic eviction through violent and unlawful means.

Additionally, if communities are to be relocated, they have to be notified and recompensed adequately.