Bangladesh, Aug. 11 -- In the coastal Upazila of Kalapara in Patuakhali district, the once vibrant Rakhine village of Chayanipara has vanished without trace, swallowed up during the construction of deep-sea Payra Port.

It is a fate that has befallen scores of other Rakhine settlements which, for more than two centuries, thrived along the coastal belt.

Some communities were swallowed by coastal erosion, their homes and fields claimed by rising tides. Others were lost to powerful interests seizing land with little regard for historic ownership. In recent years, state-backed infrastructure schemes have cleared entire villages in the name of progress.

Villages such as Rojpara, Khechapara, Punomapara, Dokasipara, Asalat Kha Para, Tajepara, ...