Forcible eviction of Jumma Refugees from Transit Camp

The Jumma Refugees are still living as refugee in their homeland after repatriation from Tripura, India. Officially total 63,407 Jumma refugees of 12,387 families and another 20,000 refugees unofficially returned to Chittagong Hill Tracts through an agreement of 20 point economic package offered by Bangladesh government.

But till to date, a large population of Jumma refugees have not been rehabilitated and their livelihood have not also been restored. Although Mr. Dipankar Talukder, M.P. Chairman of Task Force on Rehabilitation of the Repatriated Jumma Refugees claimed on November 07,1998 after a two-day visit in Dighinala and Manikchari that over 90% of rehabilitation program has successfully been completed.

But on July 26, 1999, Mr. Upendra Lal Chakma, Chairman of the Tribal Refugees' Welfare Association and former M.P said that the tribal refugees were not properly rehabilitated even after one and half a year of their repatriation from India due to bureaucratic complexities.

Mr. Chakma said that despite a government decision to provide food to the returnee refugees for six more months, the local administration was not cooperating and as a result many peoples are starving now. Some 3,055 families have not yet got back their cultivable lands and also houses occupied illegally by the settlers, some 40 villages of the returnee refugees are still under the occupation of the Bangladesh Security Forces and Bengali settlers. Mr. Upendra Lal Chakma said "the Task force has utterly failed to do its task, and we have no confidence on the task force".

On the other hand, the returnee Jumma refugees who took refuge in transit camps were also evicted forcibly. The recent report on forcible eviction of Jumma refugees is as follows:-

On August 20, 1999 at about 4 P.M. the Khagra Chari district administration with the help of police personnel evicted 12 families of the repatriated Jumma refugees who took shelter at Dighinala Model government Primary School nearly two years back. A total of 41 families of the Jumma repatriated refugees were allowed to take temporary shelter at different primary schools to be used as the "Transit Camps" until rehabilitation to their respective villages.

12 families of repatriated Jumma refugees took temporary shelter at the Dighinala Govt. Model Primary School sooner after their return from Tripura State of India at the end of 1997 with a 20 point economic package offered by the Bangladesh government.

It is learnt from the evicted refugees that two separate contingents of VDP and police forces led by one district magistrate Mr. Swapan Chandra Paul in presence of the Dighinala Thana Nirbahi Officer(TNO) conducted the eviction operation.

They first showed two eviction notices respectively signed by CHT Affairs Minister Mr. Kalpa Ranjan Chakma and Chairman of Task Force on Rehabilitation of the Repatriated Jumma Refugees Mr. Dipankar Talukdar, a Jumma Member of Parliament. The male members except old-aged refugees were not present at the time of eviction as they went out of the school for their work as they did everyday for their living.

The female members of the refugees repeatedly appealed to the magistrate and TNO for a temporary stay of their eviction drive. The female refugee members also tried to convince the authority that they would vacate the school after receiving the ration that were supposed to be provided them on 24 August by the authorities concerned. "We are waiting for our rations and we are ready to vacate the school after we get the rations", the female refugee members said.

But the magistrate, TNO and other senior members of the police and VDP personnel paid no attention to their appeal. It is so painful to state that just after few moments of the eviction order, the police and VDP personnel swooped on the innocent Jumma women and children. They also applied all their barbaric and wild forces on the innocent refugees. The VDP and police also pull and haul the women's hair and beat the women and children mercilessly during their eviction drive.

They threw out all of their belongings from the school at the time of sunset. So that the Jumma refugees failed to locate their only belongings in the darkness and as a result the refugees had to pass the night of 20 August without any food. Police and VDP members have not desisted themselves from only resorting to baton charge and teargas shell but also beat the children and women mercilessly when they (refugees) became angry and refused to vacate the school.

At least 25 Jumma women and children were injured but the condition of 12 of them were critical. The women member of the Jumma refugees prevented the police and VDP members after their repeated appeal to the on duty Assistant Superintendent of Police Mr. Debdas Bhattacharya for their stay in the school on humanitarian ground was ignored by the army and police personnel.

The Jumma refugees then became extremely violent when the police and VDP personnel forcibly started to evict them paying no heed to the appeal of Jumma refugees. Finding no other alternative means, at last the evicted furious refugees barricaded the Dighinala-Khagrachari road as a mark of their protest. The police and VDP personnel again swooped on the homeless, evicted Jumma refugees to crack down their protest.

The local Jummas including the supporters of CHT. Hill Students Council joined the Jumma refugees to protest the eviction drive of the government. The authority later called in a big contingent of army forces to crash down the protest of the Jummas. Later, the police forcibly took the evicted refugees to a newly built school on that day.

The victims of 12 Jumma refugees most of them are women including a minor girl who were injured due to the brutal torture by the police and VDP personnel as identified as follows:

1. Sucharita Chakma (6 months girl),
2. Mrs. Ramana Devi Chakma(24),
3. Mrs. Chiringi Chakma(25),
4. Miss Anita Debi Chakma(20),
5. Mrs. Bana Mukhi Chakma(48),
6. Mrs. Kannyabi Chakma (42),
7. Mrs. Gul Chogi Chakma(50),
8. Mrs. Bira Mala Chakma (50),
9. Mrs. Sita Devi Chakma(35),
10. Mrs. Krishna Bala Chakma(26),
11. Mr. Kamal Bikash Chakma(55) and
12. Sudam Bhushan Chakma(12 years boy).

It may be mentioned that the families of the Jumma refugees were compelled to take refuge at the above-mentioned schools while they failed to go back to their villages as their lands were illegally occupied either by the Bengali Muslim settlers or by the army and other security forces.

The district administration neither took any initiative to help get back their lands/ homesteads nor tried to properly rehabilitate them at their own villages despite repeated appeal by the Jumma refugees and also request by Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti(PCJSS).

The issue relating to rehabilitation of the homeless Jumma refugees was discussed every time in the meetings of Task Force on Rehabilitation of the Repatriated Tribal Refugees. But the government paid no heed to the repeated demands to help get back their lands and also to rehabilitate the repatriated Jumma refugees.

On August 21, 1999, two Director General of Force Intelligent (DGFI) personnel were beaten up by the angry Jumma refugees while they went to collect information about the incident. Later a rumor was deliberately spread that the Jummas beat the Bengalis, so that the Muslim settlers could be instigated in creating communal riot.

It was a market day on 21 August 1999, the Muslim settles, in presence of the army and police personnel attacked jointly the Jummas and swooped on the innocent people who came to Boal Khali Bazaar of Dighinala Sadar. The settlers looted all the belongings of Jummas. At least ten innocent Jummas were injured in the attack, seven of them critically.

The seriously injured were identified as 1) Shyamal Chakma (40), 2) Sukhamoy Chakma (30), 3) Ranjit Chakma(25), 4) Suman Chakma(22), 5) Murati Mohan Chakma(26), 6) Prashanta Chakma(40) and 7) Nagajya Chakma(35) under Dighinala Police Station. First four seriously injured Jummas were admitted to Khagrachari Hospital and the rest at the Dighinala Hospital.

The Jumma refugees and the activists of Hill Students Council and Hill Women Federation on 21 August submitted a separate memorandum to the Prime Minister and also the district administration demanding resignation of Kalpa Ranjan Chakma and Dipankar Talukdar for their failure in rehabilitating the refugees.

In the meantime, leaders of JSS and Jumma Refugees Welfare Association jointly organized a Press conference on 22 August and briefed the local journalists in Khagrachari after their visits to Dighinala on 21 August 1999.

The leaders of both the parties strongly condemned the barbaric action and wild attitude of the government and the administration to the Jumma refugees. They also called upon the Prime Minister to take action against those responsible for this incident.

The leaders also blasted the CHT Affairs Minister Kalpa Ranjan Chakma and Task Force Chairman Dipankar Talukdar for their failure to resolve the crisis and to rehabilitating the refugees at their ancestral homesteads properly even after nearly two years of their repatriation from the Tripura State of India.

The crux of the CHT problem stemmed up due to conflict over land together with the threat to their existence. It is because of systematic campaign of militarization, policies of ethnic cleansing, population transfer, land encroachment, development strategies, gross violation of human rights and series of massacres perpetrated in league by the Bangladesh security forces and the Bengali settlers.

Hence, if the crucial issues like demilitarization and withdrawal of Bengali settlers outside Chittagong Hill Tracts, are not addressed, the problem of rehabilitation and land issue will remain unresolved.

· To demilitarize the CHT in accordance with the terms and conditions of the Peace Treaty;
· To withdraw the Bengali settlers outside CHT and rehabilitate them properly;
· Rehabilitate the returnee Jumma refugees and internally displaced Jummas properly and restore their livelihood;

Finally the evicted 12 Jumma families were moved into Dighinala Residential Primary School. The total 41 families of returnee Jumma Refugees are now at different transit camps as follows

Name of transit camps	Number of families
Dighinala Residential Primary School (Govt.)	24
North Kabakhali Para Primary School (private)	8
Rajamoni Primary School (private)	6
Boalkhali Madrasa (Islamic) School	3
Total	41

For further information, please contact:-
Jumma Peoples Alliance
Post Box 66, Ramintra Post Office
Bangkok 10220, Thailand
Tel.: 66-2-945 8233
Fax: 66-2-947 1712
E-mail:jummapeoples@hotmail.com
Home Page:http://www.thirdculture.com/jpa/

JUMMA PEOPLES ALLIANCE