Tourism, development, and migration: resemblance of internal colonization in Bangladesh

This study explores the relationship between the state, tourism, development, and migration affecting the Adivasi people of the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) in Bangladesh. Since the peace accord in 1997, the CHT has experienced significant tourism expansion under the state’s and the army’s direct intervention. Although this tourism expansion in the hill region is promoted as a poverty alleviation tool for the Adivasi community, it also intersects past state migration projects, business interests, and sociocultural changes that demand social research. The main question of this research is: How does tourism-driven development (re)shape the socioeconomic and sociocultural landscape of the hill region? This study also aims to understand the relationship between the ‘Peace Accord’ and tourism expansion in the hilly areas after 1997, examining its impact on people’s (im)mobilities and the gap between development narratives and realities. This research uses qualitative methods and conducts fieldwork in Sajek, Rangamati, and Dhaka through a ‘multi-sited’ lens. This research found that the Army stands as the dominant force in hill tourism, transforming it into a lucrative business and investment sector, with permanent and temporary camps established next to each tourist spot under the guise of tourist safety. This tourism has facilitated various forms of mobility (such as seasonal migration and short-term movement) for Bengalis in the hills, effectively ensuring Bengali predominance in these areas. Following the peace accord, local NGOs contributed to tourism promotion, aiming to create positive impacts; however, the benefits have remained limited to certain classes or groups due to the failure to ensure broad participation from local Adivasi communities. Adivasi people in areas like Sajek face and negotiate daily challenges, including eviction, loss of privacy, shifts in occupation, and threats to their language due to the establishment of tourist spots. This economic, cultural, and military exploitation occurs with direct state support against Adivasis in the hilly areas, where ‘tourism’ has now become a significant tool. This exploitation can be viewed as a policy of ‘internal colonization’ intended to control Adivasi groups.