It’s absolutely
outrageous to say this, but be prepared to
be followed by the police where ever you go
while visiting one of Bangladesh’s most
attractive destinations, second only to the
Sundarbans.
It happened to a group of us last week (all
foreign tourists). Before we even knew it,
we were being followed by three uniformed
police officers carrying aging rifles. They
were not aggressive or overbearing, in fact
they were usually quite kind and curious
like all Bangladeshis are, and they were
simply doing their job. Nonetheless, we
didn’t formally request their presence, but
we got it whether we wanted it or not. It
did sour our experience of Bandarban—I felt
bad mostly for my group.
The bottom line:
We do not want to
scare anyone with this article, as Bandarban
is one of Bangladesh’s must-see
destinations. We simply want intrepid
travellers to be prepared for what they will
encounter.
What the casual visitor is
not initially aware of is that Bandarban is
deemed an “insecure area” by the Bangladeshi
government. Insurgent rebel groups are said
to be operating in the remote parts of the
jungle, despite the fact there was a peace
treaty signed 10 years ago.
Click here
to read more details about the treaty.
Meanwhile there was a
kidnapping last year a remote area of the
CHT, and that is supposedly why tourists
must now suffer with what seems like insane
security precautions while visiting this
highly scenic and adventurous destination.
And that is why we’d like
to provide you with some suggestions when
dealing with the security forces.
DO:
* Be aware of your influence on the
situation, both positive and negative. You
attract more attention and profile when you
stay at Guide Tours’ Hillside Resort than if
you stay in town. Because of an armed
robbery in 2004, extra police have been
stationed around the resort, permanently.
Although it is safe now, the added presence
means that when you want to walk around the
resort to the neighbouring villages you must
be accompanied by police, depending on the
conspicuousness of your group (i.e. all
caucasian people, or based on gender).
Sometimes the accompanying police are
plain-clothed, other times they are
uniformed.
DO:
* Try and request a plain-clothed officer
when visiting local villages, in order to
minimize your impact. When visiting
Hatibandha, nearby the resort, only one
officer came with us. Be aware that
sometimes officers are plain-clothed, for
that matter! (The important one with the
power is usually carrying the two-way radio.
DO:
* Practise patience and tolerance with
security forces as the guys on the ground
are just trying to do their jobs. If/when
you must have armed, uniformed officers with
you, please be patient and be prepared to
subsidize their transport on your tour
arrangements.
DO:
*
Guide Tours’
Hillside Resort staff can usually work out
your arrangements for you. If armed police
must accompany you to a local village
(usually handled on a case-by-case basis),
ask that they wait a ways back as you must
visit the village chief’s home before
hospitality will be extended to you by the
villagers.
DO:
* Work within the constraints specified by
police. This is for your benefit and for the
other travellers who follow in your
footsteps. By hindering security forces from
doing their jobs, you could potentially ruin
access for future travellers, and decrease
the opportunities for increased exposure to
the situation that hill people face.
DO:
* Help us create enough support for the idea
of a locally-based “tourist police,” who are
specially assigned to work with tourists and
the local security forces, so that our
visitors can have the best experience
possible in Bandarban. Charge a nominal fee
under some kind of organized structure.
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