News No. 163/2011, December 15, 2011
THE GOVERNMENT of Bangladesh has imposed new restrictive conditions on foreign nationals wishing to visit CHT, according to a report published in Kaler Kantho, a Bengali national daily, on11 December 2011.
According to the new rules set by the government, foreign visitors must have concurrent prior permission from both the ministry of foreign affairs and the concerned deputy commissioners to visit CHT.
Earlier it was enough to have permission from the ministry of foreign affairs to visit any district of the Chittagong Hill Tracts.
The new rule also bars foreign visitors from speaking to any member of ethnic Jumma nationalities or of any religious group in the CHT without the presence of at least one government official.
Justifying the new measure, the government said the decision was taken after a number of foreign nationals, who visited the CHT in the name of human rights and preaching religion, were found to be involved in activities inimical to the interest of the state as well as conventional ethics.
On 26 November, members of the CHT Commission had to cancel a view exchange meeting with indigenous peoples in the face of objections from an executive magistrate.
The meeting was scheduled to be held at Tripura Kalyan Sangsad auditorium at Ujanipara in Bandarban town.
The magistrate showed Dr. Swapan Adnan, a member of the CHT Commission, a three-page circular issued by the ministry of home affairs.
The circular prohibits any meeting with ‘small ethnic groups’ unless it is held in the presence of a government official.
In the evening, the Commission members left Bandarban in protest against the government directive, cutting short their two-day tour schedule.
Earlier, the police stopped six foreign visitors at Raicha check post because they had no prior permission from the deputy commissioner and forced them back.
In a permission letter issued recently to a foreign national by Rashedul Islam, Nezarot Deputy Collector (NDC), it was mentioned that before taking any trip a foreign visitor must inform the concerned police station about which places he or she intends to visit and what activities he or she intends to undertake, and that he must go to the place of visit with police protection.
It was also stated that he or she must refrain from any political or religious activities other than that which was mentioned to the police as the purpose of visit.
Apart from the places of visit scheduled earlier he or she must not visit any other places to take part in any religious discussion or any other activities relating to propaganda.
The permission further stipulates that foreigner visitors must not provide any financial assistance to any students or their guardians or to any other individuals without informing the deputy commissioner. He must also not disrupt normal lifestyle by forcing or enticing the community to covert their religion.
Further more, other then the designated places of visit, he or she is required not to travel to and stay at places populated by ‘small ethnic groups’.
The Deputy Commissioner of Bandarban, Mizanur Rahman, said: ‘These restrictions have been imposed in the interest of national security on orders from the ministry of home affairs.’
In the meantime, the deputy commissioner in a letter requested the managers of the local hotels, cottages and resorts not to make room reservations for foreign visitors without his prior permission.
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