By BBC Dhaka correspondent Frances Harrison

Officials in Bangladesh been discussing how to assist people who were internally displaced during the conflict in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region and may be dangerously short of food.

The authorities have flown in some food by helicopter, but it was insufficient and there are unconfirmed reports that several people have died of starvation.

It is estimated that 50,000-100,000 tribal people were displaced during the conflict, and another 75,000 fled to neighbouring India as refugees.

Reports from remote border areas of the hill tracts say up to 10,000 tribal people may be dangerously short of food.

These are mostly internally displaced people who say they were forced to move to inaccessible hill slopes after Bengali settlers took over their land at the height of the conflict.

Agriculture impoverished

The pressure of extra population has caused the fertility of the land to drop over the years and these people are now said to be surviving off wild potatoes alone.

Local leaders say several people have died as a result of starvation, though there's no official confirmation of this.

These are areas with no roads and poor communication, at least 12 hours walk to the nearest market. The authorities have distributed emergency food rations by helicopter in Thanchhi and Sajek, but it has not been enough.

It is not yet clear how Bangladeshi officials will define who is internally displaced, and whether tribal people will have to prove they lost their land in order to qualify, and there are still thousands of unofficial refugees who've received no government assistance yet.

These are people who fled to the north-east Indian state of Mizoram during the insurgency in Bangladesh, but never lived in refugee camps.