The Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS) issued an international appeal
on May 24 to stop the Bangladesh Army in the active settlement of over 10,000
new Bengali families in the Chittagong Hill Tracks (CHT). The PCJSS statement
said the settlement will destroy one of the oldest natural forests in the CHT
and damage the social structure of the indigenous Chakma, Tripura, and Pankhua.
According to the PCJSS, new settlements not only violate the CHT Peace Accord of 1997, but the Bangladesh Forest Act of 1927 and Bangladesh Forest Amendment Act of 2000.
