Practical Support for Peace:
Families Starting Afresh after Conflict in Bangladesh
Case Study
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| Teacher's Notes | Student Activities |
| Conflict and Peace |
The Jumma people live in the south eastern corner of Bangladesh. Their name comes from the sort of shifting agriculture they practise. They live in the hills and forest area called the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT). The Jumma people are a collection of 13 different groups of indigenous people, altogether numbering more than half a million.
For over twenty years the Jumma people have been involved in an armed conflict with the Government of Bangladesh over their rights as indigenous peoples. The Bangladesh army was used to control the violence which erupted. Because they lacked land and their population was growing rapidly, previous Governments of Bangladesh targeted the CHT for settlement by non-indigenous Bengalis. This strategy was resisted by tribals as they feared they would become a minority in their own land and their political position would weaken. By 1991 the Jumma people were only 51.4% of the CHT population whereas in 1947 they comprised 91% of the area's population. During that time conflict between Bengali settlers and tribals intensified. The Government sent the army and the Jumma peoples formed their own army to fight back. Many innocent people were killed and suffered a great deal as a result of the fighting.
As the fighting worsened, thousands of tribal families realised they were no longer safe living in the Chittagong Hill Tracts so they left Bangladesh.
Approximately 130,000 Jumma people crossed the Bangladesh border into neighbouring India. They became refugees in the states of Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh.
Living poorly in refugee camps, the Jumma people went without adequate housing, water supply, food rations and medical assistance. Even if they could attend school, the children couldn't get formal school certificates because they were not citizens of India. It was also against the law for them to work, so they could not earn proper wages. They suffered a great deal.
The fighting continued until December 1997 when a newly elected democratic Bangladesh Government and the leaders of the Jumma peoples signed a peace agreement.
| Returning home |
The peace treaty was a signal for thousands of Jumma families in refugee camps to return home. The Government of Bangladesh committed to help these returning families to rebuild their lives and start afresh.
The Government of Bangladesh provided each family returning to the Chittagong Hill Tracts with 21,000 Taka (A$1.00 = 27.9 Taka). This money was given for housing, the purchase of a cow and house building materials. The families were also given 10-12 sheets for iron roofing for their new houses. Food rations were also extremely important. The tribal families have traditionally been dependent for food on what they can grow themselves and selling their surplus at market for cash. The returning families therefore needed food assistance until they could grow and harvest their first crops. The Bangladesh Government supplied each adult person with five kilograms of rice per week. Children received two and a half kilograms of rice.
| Australian Support for Peace |
Part of Australia's response was to support an appeal by the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRCS) to support the Bangladesh Government and Jumma peoples in their efforts to keep peace in the area. The Australian Government were the largest contributors to the appeal, providing $500,000 to IFRCS to provide food necessities other than rice. This consisted of a monthly food package of four kilograms of pulses (lentils for making dhal), two litres of cooking oil and two kilograms of salt.
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| Food packages arrive every month and include pulses (lentils for making dhal), cooking oil and salt |
The selection of families in need was done together by leaders of the tribal peoples, the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society (BDRCS) and the local government officers. A day or two before the food was distributed, broadcasts were made to let families know where and when they could pick up their food packages.
Individual families had to come in person to sign and collect their own food package. Other families were not allowed to collect it for them. People were given enough rations for three months.
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| To prevent doubling-up of food supplies, thumb prints of individuals are taken once their family has received food |
This food has helped families overcome the hardships of returning empty handed to their homeland. 10,426 returned families and 1,947 families of the former Jumma soldiers were given this support initially for three months and then it was extended due to seasonal floods which prevented families farming.
| More Support to Keep the Peace |
The distribution of food and supply of other essentials is just the beginning of helping people re-settle and begin to live peacefully once again. Jumma families now urgently need to be able to earn an income to support themselves. The Australian Government, through it's overseas aid agency (AusAID), is currently investigating how best to help the people in the Chittagong Hill Tracts to be healthy, productive, self-sufficient communities who can continue to live in peace.
© Commonwealth of Australia