UN experts call for halt to contentious tourism resort in Bangladesh
Feb. 9, 2021
GENEVA (9 February 2021) – UN human rights experts* said today Bangladesh should suspend the construction of a large-scale tourist resort in the Chittagong Hills Tracts because it threatens to dispossess the indigenous Mro peoples of their traditional lands and cause serious environmental damage.
The Bangladesh Army and Sikder Group conglomerate company R&R Holdings Limited started construction in September 2020 on Mro land in the Bandarban district.
The experts said they were disturbed about irregular land leasing practices and the Army's denial of access for grazing and water resources on traditional lands the Mro depend on for culture and identity.