Bangladesh tumbled backward on human rights in 2013 as the government engaged in a harsh crackdown on members of civil society, the media and political opposition, Human Rights Watch said in its World Report 2014 released Tuesday.
The authorities often employed violent and illegal measures against protesters, and failed to initiate any investigations into credible allegations of unlawful deaths at the hands of its security forces, it said.
Measures to protect labour rights after a series of factory deaths fell far short of international standards.
Anglican Alliance, an Anglican Communion relief and development agency, reports that an appeal launched by Church of Bangladesh with the Alliance in September has raised US $16,000 for garment workers and their families who suffered as a result of the collapse of the Rana Plaza factory in Bangladesh in April last year. More than 1,000 people were killed.
According to the release, some families lost their sole income-earner in the disaster and yet did not receive financial support in the following months; the church used the funds donated by Anglicans around the world to help families most in need, in addition to providing food, water and medication in the immediate aftermath.
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Shrimp industry in Bangladesh is plagued by hazardous conditions and excessively low wages, according to Environmental Justice Foundation report. Western governments, large retailers and consumers should put pressure on the Bangladeshi government to ensure a fair deal for the 1.2 million workers and their dependents in the lucrative shrimp industry, campaigners have said.
Bangladesh is among the top 10 exporters of farmed shrimp; it is its second largest foreign currency earner after the garment industry.
The Bangladeshi helper, 27-year-old Akter Ka...
The Bangladeshi helper, 27-year-old Akter Ka...
