Bangladesh urged to end crackdown on garment workers
Amnesty International (AI) today urged the Bangladesh authorities to end their crackdown on garment workers, as protests and demands marked International Workers’ Day.
© Reuters
Mundo Amnistia Internacional
"We call on the Bangladesh government to immediately end the crackdown on these workers’ rights and ensure they can exercise their rights to freedom of expression and association," said Amnesty International’s Deputy Regional Director for South Asia.
According to the organization, workers in one of the main sectors of the Asian country's economy live "in an atmosphere of fear" due to human rights abuses.
On the day that International Workers' Day is celebrated, marked by demonstrations in the capital and industrial areas of the country to demand workers' rights, Amnesty International recalled that between October and November of last year at least four workers died in protests where they demanded better wages.
In June, a union leader was assassinated, allegedly by people hired by the owners of a factory, when he demanded that workers' overdue wages be paid.
Since those protests, at least 35 criminal proceedings have been instituted against textile workers and 131 people have been arrested, including several union leaders.
"This has had a chilling effect on trade union leaders and labour rights groups, who have been silenced for fear of arrest and imprisonment," the organization said.
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