48 ANGOC In defense of land rights: A monitoring report on land conflicts in six Asian countries Limitations of the study This study is limited to land-human rights violation against indigenous people in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) and in plain lands across the country. It is mostly based on secondary data gathered by Kapaeeng Foundation from media reports and its own network from 2015 until June 2018. OVERVIEW OF LAND AND RESOURCE CONFLICTS IN THE COUNTRY Nature of the conflicts Bangladesh is experiencing strong pressures on land due to population growth. Tenure insecurity is high due to outdated and inactive laws and policies. Incidences of land conflicts and land grabbing are increasing. Influential people have encroached on public land. Flood control projects are accompanied by expropriation; and ongoing conflicts over control of water bodies are negatively impacting the lives and livelihoods of poor communities. Land conflicts occur in many forms in Bangladesh – between individuals, between communities, landless and land grabbers, and people and State actors. Disputes occur over State property, private property, and collective and common property (see table below). Table 1: Nature of land conflicts in Bangladesh Conflicts over all types of property Inheritance and ancestral land conflicts Boundary conflicts Conflicts over overlapping rights (indigenous rights vs. statutory laws, such as between Bengali settlers and IPs in CHT and plain lands) n Conflicts due to lack of land registration, i.e. 45.2 percent unregistered documents in cases of inherited land parcels (BRAC HRLS-PRI, 2014) n Conflicts between State and private/collective owners due to unclear and non-transparent land demarcation n Multiple sales/allocations of land n Limited access to land due to discrimination by law, custom or practice n Peaceful and informal land acquisitions without evictions n Violent land acquisitions n Evictions by landowners n Illegal evictions by State officials acting without mandate n Establishment of tea gardens and Eco Parks/social forestry n Commercialization of land and unplanned development projects n Disputes over the payment for using/buying land n Disputes over land value n Destruction of property (pre-grabbing for dispossession, ex. violent attacks and burning) n n n