percent of farming land being lost each It is imperative to implement year (Land Portal and Uttaran, 2017). the UNGP BHR in the Consequently, the existing land country, with emphasis on governance system is unable to protect agricultural investment, so the rights of women and the poor under that business enterprises can the current land market dynamics. Challenges in the land governance be made more accountable in of Bangladesh include industrialization, respecting human rights. economic growth, and establishment of export processing zones, power plants and infrastructures. Government’s unwillingness to fulfil its commitments under international conventions and treaties (i.e., CEDAW, ICESCR, and ICCPR) is also a problem. This is compounded by the lack of coordination among ministries. Lastly, the shrinking democratic space for CSOs is an additional constraint. Pertinent Business and Land Rights Issues Very often, people are evicted and even displaced forcefully. Indigenous people are often forced to migrate from their ancestral lands. Land rights defenders are killed and women are raped by land grabbers. For its part, the State neither protects victims nor formulates mechanisms to do so, due to the lack of legislative measures. Vested groups have grabbed lands of thousands of Hindu families, taking advantage of the Vested Property Act (Barkat, 2015). The reality on the ground is that many poor citizens and ethnic people had been evicted from their land by continuous land grabbing. Landlessness and lack of access to land are among the major problems in Bangladesh. The government also acquires its owned fallow land (khas land) for establishing export processing zones. The number of landless people is increasing due to continuous land acquisition by the government on the pretext of industrialization or so-called “public interest.” UNGP BHR in Bangladesh Status of UNGP BHR Implementation It is imperative to implement the UNGP BHR in the country, with emphasis on agricultural investment, so that business enterprises can be made more ANGOC and KPA 33

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