Ethnic minority families from Bangladesh’s Chittagong Hill Tracts are crossing into Myanmar to escape years of violence, land grabs and intimidation, according to accounts gathered in a new report.

The Hill Tracts, home to around 850,000 people from 11 non‑Muslim ethnic groups, have long been plagued by unrest. Communities practising Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism say they face threats from settlers, restrictions on movement and little protection from the authorities.

One farmer, Htwe Sein Maung, described how his Marma Buddhist village in Bandarban district was targeted in 2014. Paddy fields were burned, households barred from cultivation and residents threatened. With police unwilling to act, he and 15 other families left for Myanmar’s Maungdaw district, where the military allowed them to settle on small plots of land.

Another Marma family from Rangamati district fled in 2013 after a spate of disappearances involving young girls. One teenager was later reported to have been forced into marriage.

Villagers said they faced threats from neighbouring Muslim communities allegedly backed by local politicians, prompting them to migrate in batches to Rakhine state.

The violence has escalated in recent years. In 2021, the emergence of the Kuki Chin National Front, an armed group drawn from Christian ethnic communities, triggered a military crackdown. Hundreds were arrested, and in 2025 more than 50 Marma villagers were forced to flee Bara Toli in Rangamati.

The Diplomat magazine, which interviewed displaced families, reported that successive Bangladeshi governments – whether led by the Awami League, BNP or the military – have failed to safeguard minority rights. With household debt rising, restrictions on movement and recurring violence, many see migration as the only option.

Today, families who crossed into Myanmar survive by cultivating vegetables and rice or working as day labourers. They remain far from Rohingya villages, reflecting the complex ethnic landscape of the borderlands.

The Chittagong Hill Tracts have endured nearly five decades of unrest. Analysts warn that without stronger protections, displacement will intensify, pushing more ethnic minorities across the frontier into Myanmar’s Chin and Rakhine states.

-2026-05-14

As Rolf used to say “can you see what it is yet”

This truly is a worldwide problem now.

Sorry to trouble you, but isn't this genocide ?

People are being forced off their land .

Can someone tell Greta ?

The ICJ need to take legal action against this genocide .

I expect there will be World wide protests against this land theft and genocide .

The World doesn't tolerate that kind of thing

Perhaps this whole issue is self correcting, the Buddhists & Christians are moving into Rakhine State and the Muslims in Rakhine State (Burma) are moving back to Bangladesh and everybody can live happily in their own space.

And yet the whole world demonstrates in favour of the Palestinians only. How many dozens of minority groups are as badly wronged, or worse, than the Palestinians? What about a Tibet flotilla for a change?

Edited May 28May 28 by JackGats

On 5/14/2026 at 10:56 AM, geovalin said:

Communities practising Buddhism, Christianity and Hinduism say they face threats from settlers, restrictions on movement and little protection from the authorities.

Could some Jews move there and Settle there , then the World will react