Information on the current treatment of Buddhists, and more specifically on their current situation in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), could not be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB.

Sources consulted by the DIRB are unclear regarding the population figures for Buddhists and tribal peoples. According to the attachment from the Refugees, Immigrants and Asylum Section (RIAS) of the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, of Bangladesh's total population of 110 million, approximately 87 per cent are Muslim, and the remaining 13 per cent consists of 15 milion Hindus, 1 million Buddhists, 400,000 Christians and other smaller religious minority populations (July 1994, 12).

According to Bangladesh: A Travel Survival Kit, "Buddhists are today a tiny minority of the population and are mostly tribal people" (1991, 32). An Inter Press Service (IPS) report states that the CHT tribes form "a tiny Buddhist and Animist minority in the majority Muslim country" (6 Oct. 1993), while a United Press International (UPI) report states that "Buddhists from 13 tribes account for more than 60 percent of the 1 million inhabitants [of the three Bangladesh districts of the CHT]" (4 May 1993).

RIAS states that Bangladesh's 600,000 tribal peoples "have different languages, customs and religious practices from the Muslim and Hindu population" and live in the CHT (July 1994, 11). The religious breakdown of the CHT tribal populations is as follows: the Jumma tribe is Buddhist (Documentation-Réfugiés 18-31 Jan. 1994, 8), while the Chakma, Marma and Mro tribes are mostly Buddhist (July 1994, 12). Most of the Lushai are Christians, whereas the Tripura are Hindus, and the Kuki and Khomoi (Kumi) tribes as well as some of the Mro are animists (ibid., 12).

According to the attachment from World Human Rights Guide, interreligious marriage for practising Muslims, who make up 85 per cent of the population, is not permitted (1992, 35). Page 25 of the RIAS attachment discusses mixed marriages in general in Bangladesh. For additional information on Muslim marriages, please consult Response to Information Request BGD20879.E of 14 June 1995, which is available at Regional Documentation Centres.

The attached News India report carried by Ethnic NewsWatch on 29 July 1992 provides information on alleged attacks directed against Bangladesh's minorities, including Buddhists and tribals of CHT, after the December 1992 destruction of the Babri Mosque in Ayodhya. Additional information on incidents of violence against Buddhists following the Babri Mosque incident could not be found among the sources consulted by the DIRB.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum. Please find below the list of additional sources consulted in researching this Information Request.

References

Documentation-Réfugiés [Paris]. 18-31 January 1994. No. 234. "Bangladesh."

Inter Press Service (IPS). 6 October 1993. Lucy Johnson. "Human Rights: Hill Tribe Protest Missed by Bangladeshi PM." (NEXIS)

Murray, Jon. March 1991. 2nd edition. Bangladesh: A Travel Survival Kit. Hawthorne, Victoria, Australia: Lonely Planet Publications.

Refugees, Immigration and Asylum Section (RIAS), Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. July 1994. Country Profile: Bangladesh. Parkes, ACT, Australia: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade.

The United Press International (UPI). 4 May 1993. BC Cycle. "Buddhist Peace Force Warriors Kill Soldier in Bangladesh." (NEXIS)

World Human Rights Guide. 1992. 3rd edition. Compiled by Charles Humana. Oxford: Oxford University Press.

Attachments

Documentation-Réfugiés [Paris]. 18-31 January 1994. No. 234. "Bangladesh."

Murray, Jon. March 1991. 2nd edtion. Bangladesh: A Travel Survival Kit. Hawthorn, Victoria, Australia: Lonely Planet Publications, p. 32.

News India. 18 December 1992. Vol. 22, No. 51. Gautam Goon. "UN Chief Urged to Stop Bangladesh Massacre of Minorities." (The Ethnic NewsWatch/NEXIS).

Refugees, Immigration and Asylum Section (RIAS), Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Australia. July 1994. Country Profile: Bangladesh. Parkes, ACT: Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, pp. 11-12, 25.

The United Press International (UPI). 4 May 1993. BC Cycle. "Buddhist Peace Force Warriors Kill Soldier in Bangladesh." (NEXIS)

World Human Rights Guide. 1992. 3rd edition. Compiled by Charles Humana. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp. 32-35.

Additional Sources Consulted

Amnesty International Report. Yearly. 1986 to 1992.

The Annual Register: A Record of World Events. Yearly. 1988 to 1992.

Asian Affairs: An American Review [New York]. Quarterly. 1991 to present.

Asian Survey [Berkeley, Ca.]. Monthly. 1989 to present.

Bangladesh: A Country Study. 1988.

Bangladesh and Pakistan: An Overview in Human Rights Perspectives. 23 January 1992. Dr. Elliot Tepper.

Critique: Review of the Department of State's Country Reports on Human Rights Practices. Yearly. 1986 to 1992.

Documentation, Information and Research Branch (DIRB), Immigration and Refugee Board, Ottawa. September 1994. Contextual Information Package: Bangladesh.

_____. September 1994. Human Rights Information Package: Bangladesh.

_____. December 1993. Women in Bangladesh.

DIRB "Amnesty International: Bangladesh" country file. 1991 to present.

DIRB country file. April 1993 to present.

DIRB Indexed Media Review [Ottawa]. Weekly. July 1994 to present.

The Economist [London]. Weekly. 1995.

Encyclopedia of the Third World. 1987, 1992.

The Europa World Year Book. Yearly. 1994.

Far Eastern Economic Review (FEER) [Hong Kong]. Weekly. 1995.

Foreign Broadcast Information Service (FBIS) Daily Reports. 1995.

Freedom in the World: Political Rights and Civil Liberties. Yearly. 1988.

Human Rights in Developing Countries: A Yearbook on Human Rights in Countries Receiving Nordic Aid. Yearly. 1986, 1987, 1990, 1991.

Human Rights Watch Annual Report. Yearly. 1987, 1989.

Human Rights Watch World Report. Yearly. 1990, 1991, 1992, 1993.

Immigration and Refugee Board Documentation Centre (IRBDC) [Ottawa]. February 1991. Bangladesh: The Fall of President Ershad.

_____. June 1990. Bangladesh: Country Profile.

India Abroad [Toronto]. Weekly. 1995.

India Quarterly [New Delhi]. Quarterly. 1992 to present.

India Today [Delhi]. Fortnightly. 1995.

INS Resource Information Centre. November 1992. Information Packet Series: Bangladesh.

Journal of Asian and African Studies [Leiden]. Quarterly. 1992 to present.

Journal of Asian Studies [Milwaukee]. Quarterly. 1991 to present.

Journal of Contemporary Asia Quarterly [Manila]. Quarterly. 1991 to present.

Keesing's Record of World Events [Cambridge]. Monthly. 1989 to present.

Modern Asian Studies [Cambridge]. Quarterly. 1992 to present.

News from Asia Watch.

ODR-Bulletin D'Information [Berne]. December 1990. "Bangladesh."

Religion in Politics: A World Guide. 1989.

South Asian Bulletin [Albany]. Quarterly. 1991 to present.

World Directory of Minorities. 1990.

World Human Rights Guide. 1986, 1987, 1992.

World Monitor [Boston]. Monthly. 1992.

On-line search of media sources.

Oral sources.
Note on oral sources:

Oral sources are usually contacted when documentary sources have been exhausted. However, oral sources must agree to be quoted in a publicly available Response to Information Request. If they refuse, the Response will read "no information currently available." Contacting oral sources is also subject to time constraints; for example, there are periods of the year when academics are unavailable.