Hundreds of textile factories closed after violent protests in Bangladesh, two workers killed

They demand that their salaries be almost tripled. Hundreds of garment factories in Bangladesh have closed due to violent protests by thousands of garment workers, police said on Thursday. According to police, workers looted about 50 factories on the outskirts of Dhaka.

“More than 250 textile factories were closed during the protests,” Gazipur police chief Sarwar Alam told AFP, “up to 50 factories were looted and vandalized, four of them set on fire.”

Bangladesh is one of the world’s top clothing exporters, with some 3,500 factories supplying Western brands and accounting for 85% of the country’s $55 billion in annual exports.

Monthly salary of 70 euros.

According to police figures, two workers have died and dozens more have been injured since the protests began. They started early last week and turned violent on Monday. According to police, several thousand workers blocked roads in industrial districts around Dhaka. In Gazipur, police “fired tear gas and stun grenades at almost 1,000” workers, police official Abou Siddique told AFP.

They dispersed and left the area peacefully,” he added. Paramilitary troops of the Bangladesh Border Guard (BGB) were deployed to “prevent violence” in the most affected areas, BGB Lieutenant Colonel Zahid Parvez told AFP.

violent repression

Global workers’ rights network Clean Clothes Campaign “strongly condemned the violent crackdown” on textile protesters, accusing most brand clients of refusing to publicly support their demands. However, major brands including Adidas, Hugo Boss and Puma wrote to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina earlier this month, having “noted” that average monthly take-home salaries “had not been adjusted since 2019, while inflation increased significantly during this period.”

According to Dhaka Metropolitan Police Deputy Commissioner Nazmul Hasan, his services suspect that the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP, opposition) is inciting these demonstrations at a time when violent anti-government demonstrations are shaking the country demanding the resignation of Sheikh Hasina. before the elections scheduled for the end of January.