Caught in the Crossfire: The Plight of the Bawm Community and Unveiling the Complex Ties Between the Bangladesh Military and the Kuki-Chin National Front

After recent weeks of unrest that began in July over protests seeking to abolish a civil service job quota system, leaving more than 757 dead[1], Bangladesh is in a process of rebuilding. Former Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina resigned and fled the country to India and criminal cases against her and other minsters have already been filed to take responsibility over the deaths.

Meanwhile, the country is being led by an interim government with Nobel laureate Muhammed Yunus as its head.

For Indigenous Peoples in the country this could open an opportunity to secure more recognition and protection of their rights and to fully exercise their rights, which continued to be seriously violated during Hasina’s 15-year iron-fisted rule. They seek proper Constitutional acknowledgement and at least one legitimate seat at the table as a partner in the new process of state building.

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Bangladesh: Protect Indigenous Peoples’ rights in Chittagong Hill Tracts

Minority Rights Group, the International Work Group for Indigenous Affairs (IWGIA) and FIAN International express their concern about the ongoing judicial review of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) Regulation, 1900 in Bangladesh, which aims at weakening its wording that would undermine the rights of the Indigenous Peoples, also called Adivasis, of the Chittagong Hill Tracts region of Bangladesh. The organizations call upon the government of Bangladesh to take the necessary measures to protect Indigenous Peoples’ rights as well as the multicultural heritage of the CHT and Bangladesh as a whole.

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Briefing to the Chief Adviser of the Interim Government of Bangladesh from the Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission (CHTC)

The Honourable Chief Adviser,

The Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission (hereinafter, the Commission)1 warmly welcomes you and your newly formed interim government as you embark on rebuilding a new Bangladesh. As your interim government undertakes significant reforms to the state system and governance, we firmly believe that positive changes will also extend to the CHT. Despite the signing of the CHT Accord in 1997, no successive government has yet taken steps to fully implement it, and the CHT continues to experience widespread human rights violations and a breakdown of the rule of law, issues that the Commission has consistently highlighted through press statements and reports.

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