State of the Bangladesh Economy in FY2023-24 (First Reading)
Independent Review of
RBD
Bangladesh's Development
Labour rights in Bangladesh-Commitments and concerns
6.3 Bangladesh's labour rights situation: through the lens of global partners
The issue of labour rights compliance came into the major discussion again in view of a sequence of events that took place
within a short period (Figure 6.2)
These events surrounded expressing concerns and publishing reports from the US, the EU, and the UN regarding the
labour rights situation in Bangladesh
Figure 6.2: Chronology of key events surrounding the labour rights situation in Bangladesh
March 2023: Country
report on Human Rights
published by the USA
that identified range of
non-compliances in the
area of labour rights in
Bangladesh.
September 2023: USA
expressed concern regarding a
number of labour rights
violations in Bangladesh during
the United States-Bangladesh
Trade and Investment
Cooperation and Facilitation
Agreement (TICFA) Council
meeting.
November 2023:
Detailed assessment of
compliance by
Bangladesh with the
EBA conditionality
published.
November 2023: US
Secretary Blinken
mentions Bangladesh's
trade union leader as
oppression example
while announcing the
new Presidential
Memorandum on labour
rights
November 2023: The
Bangladesh embassy in
Washington has alerted
the Commerce Ministry
about potential US
trade measures,
including penalties and
visa restrictions, citing
concerns over labor
issues.
End of 2022
End of 2023
December 2022: USA expressed
concern regarding a number of
labour rights violations in
Bangladesh during the United
States-Bangladesh Trade and
Investment Cooperation and
Facilitation Agreement (TICFA)
Council meeting.
September 2023:
Members of the
European Parliament
(MEPs) expressed
concern about the
worsening human
rights situation in
Bangladesh.
Source: Authors' illustration based on different newspapers
November 2023: The EU
EBA mission visited
Bangladesh, acknowledging
the progress made in OSH of
the garment industry but
urged to improve in other
areas.
CPD (2023): State of the Bangladesh Economy in FY2023-24 (First Reading)
November 2023: UN
experts urge
Bangladesh to seize
Human Rights Council
review as an
opportunity to address
the deteriorating
human rights situation.
December 2023: A US buyer
included a new condition that it
will neither accept the RMG
products nor settle the payment in
case any sanctions are imposed on
Bangladesh.
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