Bangladesh garment workers clash with police, two wounded

DHAKA - Bangladeshi garment workers furious at job layoffs in the economically vital sector clashed with police and soldiers on Oct 31, with two teenagers shot and wounded, officers said.

Thousands of workers marched in the capital Dhaka’s Mirpur area to protest job losses and the abrupt closure of a garment factory.

The industry, which accounts for around 85 per cent of Bangladesh’s US$55 billion (S$72.65 billion) in annual exports, has seen months of unrest.

Bangladesh is the world’s second-biggest exporter of clothing by value after China and supplies many of the world’s top brands, including Levi’s, Zara and H&M.

Mr Mohammed Faruq, a police officer at Dhaka Medical College, said two people had been shot – aged 15 and 17 – and were receiving treatment.

Demonstrations on Oct 31 spiralled into violence, with two vehicles belonging to the security forces set on fire.

Mr Mohammad Abdur Rahman said his 17-year-old son Al Amin had been shot while leaving the factory where he worked.

“My son has injuries to his hand and back,” he said, adding the other teenager had been shot in the leg. “I don’t know why these kids were shot.”

Mr Kazi Golam Mostofa, the officer commanding a police station in Mirpur, said protests broke out after a factory closed in the wake of the days of tensions.

“Workers from all the garment factories in the Mirpur area joined the protest,” he said, declining to comment on how the teenagers were wounded.

Deadly protests in the student-led revolution to oust the country’s former leader Sheikh Hasina, which culminated in her fleeing to India in August, caused significant disruptions to the linchpin industry.

An interim government, led by Nobel Peace Prize winner Muhammad Yunus took over, but protests in a string of garment factories continued with workers demanding jobs and better pay.

Demonstrations have since slid into violence.

On Sept 30, a garment worker was killed and 20 were injured in clashes between protesters and the police.

Earlier in October, the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association estimated losses since August totalled to around US$400 million, and called for security forces to continue protecting the industry. AFP