Camp-Life and Social Integration: Case of the Displaced Biharis in Khulna, Bangladesh

Abstract

This research aims to examine how the spatialities of the camp affect a permanent displaced population’s acculturation and social integration. Using the case of the largest Bihari camps in Khulna, Bangladesh, it found that Biharis’ many cultural customs and practices have been compromised by internal and external reasons despite their best efforts to retain them. Ill-maintained civic facilities, encroachment of public infrastructures, and the political use of out-of-context religious practices/infrastructures have also affected their social relations. The camp’s physical setting has played the double role of an instrument and a stage, while its exceptionalities negatively influenced their overall social integration.