BAPA works closely with the Adivasi and indigenous efforts to protect their land and livelihood. The conference emphasized the importance of the need for enforcement of their rightful ownership of land and of access the courts to defend their rights and limit harassment. In light of government statements in the past year that have failed to recognize the presence of indigenous peoples in Bangladesh, the conference was also a bold statement to political leaders and government authorities about the reality of indigenous peoples in Bangladesh, the dignity of their culture and traditions, and their rightful ownership of land.

Economic development is an imperative for the government of Bangladesh, but in the northeast, this has come into conflict with the rights, needs and desires of the indigenous peoples on whose land some of this development has taken place.

Fr. Joseph Gomes, OMI spoke at the conference on logging, indigenous livelihoods and the environment. Sharif Jamil, a close collaborator of the Oblates who helped organize the conference, kindly sent us pictures and the program which can be viewed here:

Click on each page separately to view the Conference Program Page 1; Page 2; Page 3; Page 4; Page 5; Page 6; Page 7

A full conference report is expected soon.

Watch a slideshow of pictures from the Conference…

The new diocese has seven parishes and 11 mission centers with about 17,000 mostly tribal Catholics, served by 21 priests and 33 Religious. Bishop D’Cruze had served ably as Bishop of Khulna before his appointment to the new diocese.

Sylhet has been a locus of JPIC work in Bangladesh, with Oblate support for efforts against illegal logging and in support of land and other rights of the indigenous Khasis and Garo peoples.

Learn more…

Yet in Bangladesh, the government refuses to recognize the existence of indigenous peoples, arguing instead that they are simply ethnic minorities. This designation removes the groups from protections and rights afforded by the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples and ILO Convention 169, both of which Bangladesh has signed.

Sanjeev Drong, a close collaborator of the Oblates in Bangladesh, criticized the government’s position, stating that recent remarks of the Bangladeshi Foreign Minister reflecting this position were not correct. He said the “adivasi” people have been living in Bangladesh from the time immemorial with their own distinctiveness, language, culture, and identity.

He cited the ILO Convention (169), article 1 that says, “Self-identification as indigenous or tribal shall be regarded as a fundamental criterion for determining the groups to which the provisions of this Convention apply”. Bangladesh has ratified the ILO convention.

Pointing to the recent killings of three Marmas in Bandarban and one Santal in Dinajpur, the leaders said organised attacks on the “indigenous” people have increased to “eliminate” them from their ancestral land.

They also mentioned felling of over 5,000 trees at Nahar Khansi village in Srimangal and said Rakhains in Patuakhali, Garos in Madhupur, Santals in the north Bengal are facing land ownership problems.

The government has not addressed these issues in the last two and a half years although the ruling party pledged in its election manifesto to do so.

Sharif Jamil is a Bangladeshi environmental activist who works closely with the Oblate JPIC Coordinator in Bangladesh, Fr. Joseph Gomes, OMI. Sharif is National Coordinator of APRA (Adibasi Poribesh Roskhya Andolon or Save Indigenous Environment Movement), Joint Secretary of BAPA (Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon or Bangladesh Environment Movement), and the Buriganga Riverkeeper. BAPA is the largest national environmental movement in Bangladesh.

Sharif, Fr. Joseph and others have been working with the Garo and Khasi communities to prevent illegal logging in their forests, on which they depend for their survival.

Sylhet area, Bangladesh

The Oblate JPIC office is excited to introduce the video, “Behind the Green,” to the Missionary Oblates JPIC YouTube Channel.

The film “Behind the Green” (Parts 1-3) is based on the historic struggle of the Khasi and Garo peoples for protection of their ancestral homeland in Bangladesh in the face of Government plans to establish an Eco-park in the Moulvibazar district. The eco-park would take up more than 1500 acres of the indigenous peoples’ land for tourism.

The films also features Fr. Joseph Gomes OMI, a missionary catholic priest working amongst the Garo and Khasi people in Bangladesh.

View the “Behind the Green” video at: http://www.youtube.com/user/OMIJPIC

Please bookmark this JPIC Youtube Channel website and check it frequently as it will be updated with stories and actions from Oblates in ministry. Spread the word!!

An Oblate priest, Fr. Joseph Gomes, OMI, along with other colleagues from the environmental community have been working with the Khasi people to protect the forest and their villages. We urge all parties in a position to do so, to raise serious concerns with the Government of Bangladesh regarding this situation.

Two years ago, four thousand trees were chopped down on lands traditionally controlled by the Khasi people of the Sylhet region of north eastern Bangladesh. The owner of a local Tea Estate was initially granted permission by the government to cut the trees. But the logging created serious ecological damage, and threatened the very existence of the Khasi inhabitants of the four villages. The indigenous communities organized against the logging and protested vigorously. For the Khasi, trees are essential for Pan (betel leaf) cultivation, their only livelihood. The Khasis still do not have clear title to their lands, leaving them vulnerable to this sort of exercise of power.

In a huge victory for the Khasis, the local Deputy Commissioner decided in early January that no more trees may be cut from any Khasi Punji (indigenous village) in the area. This victory, that would have saved many villages and thousands of trees on the Tripura Border with India, has been short-lived. In response to a case filed by the Tea estate owner, the Bangladesh High Court in late February over-turned the decision to stop the logging.

Learn more…

This issue features updates on Sri Lanka, Haiti, logging in Bangladesh, immigration, financial regulatory reform, an Eco-Tips page and more.

Read the Spring 2010 Issue (Download PDF)

Mr Sanjeeb Drong, an important advocate for human rights and indigenous peoples in Bangladesh and SE Asia, and good friend of the Oblates, was brutally attacked last Friday by a group of hired thugs. He and his wife were travelling home from a meeting with the Bishop and a Diocesan Committee. Sanjeeb fled from his attackers and was rescued by the Bishop and several priests who then took him to a hospital. He is now safe in Dhaka. His wife was unharmed.

Please call on US government officials and your elected representatives to press for an inquiry in Bangladesh. Use our suggested letter.

Read our Action Alert, learn more…

The Oblates have been supportive of the efforts to protect the forest, with Fr. Joseph Gomes, OMI working closely with the Khasi people. APRA (Adibasi Poribesh Roskhya Andolon or Save Indigenous Environment Movement) of BAPA (Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon or Bangladesh Environment Movement). Fr. Gomes was joined by Sharif Jamil, National Coordinator, APRA, Joint Secretary, BAPA in successfully arguing on behalf of the Khasi people before a government panel charged with investigating the logging controversy.

Read the full account…

“Our people are not only suffering from sea-level rise and cyclones but also more people each day become refugees because of river erosion which is an effect of climate change too,” Benedict Alo D’Rozario, executive director of Caritas Bangladesh, told UCA News.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected this week at the UN climate summit in Copenhagen to demand 15 percent of the fund which is to help at-risk nations adapt to climate change.

D’Rozario said that his country’s claim was based on forecasts that Bangladeshis would represent 15 percent of the estimated 100 million climate refugees in the world in years to come.

That figure, however, does not give the full picture apparently. “Already we have five percent of the world’s climate refugees mostly caused by river erosion and recent cyclones,” he said. “If we estimate there will be another 15 percent in coming years, then we could demand at least 20 percent from the fund.”

D’Rozario says that seawater also increasingly encroaches on the land damaging livelihoods.

“For the last seven months, since Cyclone Aila hit, people of Gabura and Paddapukur in the country’s southwestern district Satkhira have not been able to return home,” he said. Now they are either living in temporary shelters on higher ground or have left the area entirely.

Thomas Costa, a Catholic freelance consultant on development programs, agrees that Bangladesh’s demand on the fund will need to be increased.

“Certainly Bangladesh deserves more than 15 percent of the climate adaptation fund but it would not be appropriate if it is calculated according to percentage only,” said Costa, who is also a teacher of anthropology at Dhaka University, said.

“Actual needs have to be justified based on (climate change) effects on the coastal belt areas, river erosion and effects on marshy land.”

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Article printed from Union of Catholic Asian News: http://www.ucanews.com

URL to article: http://www.ucanews.com/2009/12/14/countrys-climate-fund-demands-too-low/