Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingyas starve in Bangladesh | ABITSU - All Burma I.T Students Union

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Myanmar’s persecuted Rohingyas starve in Bangladesh | ABITSU - All Burma I.T Students Union

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A rush to learn English by cell - washingtonpost.com

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More than 300,000 Bangladeshis sign up for new phone service

By Maija Palmer and Amy Kazmin
Saturday, November 14, 2009

More than 300,000 people in Bangladesh, one of Asia's poorest but fastest-growing economies, have rushed to sign up to learn English over their cellphones, threatening to swamp the service even before its official launch Thursday.

"We were not expecting that kind of response -- 25,000 people would have been a good response on the first day," said Sara Chamberlain, the manager of the discount service. "Instead, we got hundreds of thousands of people."

The project, which costs users less than the price of a cup of tea for each three-minute lesson, is being run by the BBC World Service Trust, the international charity arm of the broadcaster. Part of a British government initiative to help develop English skills in Bangladesh, it marks the first time that cellphones have been used as an educational tool on this scale.

Since cellphone services began in Bangladesh just over a decade ago, more than 50 million Bangladeshis have acquired phone connections, including many in remote rural areas. That far outnumbers the 4 million who have Internet access.

English is increasingly seen as a key to economic mobility, especially as ever larger numbers of Bangladeshis go abroad to find work unavailable to them at home. An estimated 6.2 million Bangladeshis work overseas, and their nearly $10 billion in annual remittances represent the country's second-largest source of foreign exchange.

However, English is also important for securing jobs at home, where about 70 percent of employers look for workers with "communicative English."

Through its Janala service, the BBC offers 250 audio and text-message lessons at different levels -- from basic English conversation to grammar and comprehension of simple news stories. Each lesson is a three-minute phone call, costing about 4 cents.

One basic lesson involves listening to and repeating simple dialogue such as: "What do you do?"

"I work in IT, what about you?"

"I'm a student."

"That's nice."

All six cellphone operators in Bangladesh have agreed to cut the cost of calls to the service by 50 percent to make it more affordable. Chamberlain also said the project team was in talks with the cellphone companies to increase capacity to cope with the unexpectedly high demand.

The launch of the service comes just a few weeks after Grameenphone, the country's largest cellphone operator, held Bangladesh's largest initial public offering. Shares in the company are due to start trading on the Dhaka Stock Exchange next week.

The language lessons target mainly 18- to 24-year-olds, who typically have five or more years of formal education but whose training in English has been weak. Also targeted are people living on less than $145 a month, who would struggle to pay for formal English lessons.

Chamberlain said the service could be developed later to offer tailored English instruction to people in different industries, such as call centers, garment factories and the tourist industry.

-- Financial Times

Palmer reported from London and Kazmin from New Delhi.

Still Unpaid, Workers Take Protest to BGMEA - Bangladesh News

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Hundreds of garment workers demonstrated in front of the BGMEA Bhaban at Kawran Bazar on Saturday, demanding payment of still-due salaries and allowances ahead of Eid, barely days away.

Workers of factories in Savar and Gazipur also erupted in protests as, still owed salaries and bonuses, they remained unpaid just days ahead of Eid.

Employees of Season Sweaters Ltd, in Ashulia, arrived at the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association head office in three trucks at around seven in the evening and continued their agitation for over two hours, police said.

"Our salaries have now been due for two or three months. After an earlier protest, the factory authorities assured us they would settle pay back pay and allowances by Sept 6; this failed to happen," factory worker Al Amin told bdnews24.com.

He said Saturday's demonstration was sparked when the factory's owners said the workers would not receive their dues after all ahead of the Eid break.

Top Ramna police officials went to the scene, while a huge number of law enforcers were deployed to check any unpleasant situation during the demo.

BGMEA president Abdus Salam Murshedi told bdnews24.com, "It's a very sad incident. We are trying to contact the owner of the factory. He too is giving inconsistent statements. And now, he is not even taking phone calls."

After discussions, the workers received some compensation from BGMEA to tide them over. Murshedi told bdnews24.com: "Considering humanitarian grounds, a temporary solution has been found. We tried our best to give them some help."

He said BGMEA, the industry's largest trade body, would try to bring a more permanent solution through a meeting with the factory's owners on Sept 30.

"Steps will be taken after discussion on Sept 30."

Asked what steps might be taken against owner Ziaul Amin, the BGMEA president said, "He will most probably get a show-cause notice. After discussion we will decide if any other action should be taken against him."

Savar unrest

Labour unrest had erupted earlier in the day at two Savar garment factories, including Season Sweater Ltd.

Ashulia police chief Monowar Hossain told bdnews24.com workers of Season Sweater had protested at Ashulia Police Station, demanding immediate payment of the last three months' salary and Eid bonus.

They also sought cooperation from police in making the owners pay. The workers later went on to demonstrate in front of BGMEA Bhaban.

Savar police officer Abu Taher told bdnews24.com workers of Biswas Group of Industries Ltd of Rajfulbaria abstained from work and demonstrated instead for their dues and Eid bonus.

Police went on the spot and try to calm them. Later police managed to communicate with the factory owner.

The situation became normal in the evening as factory authorities paid up the workers' dues.

Gazipur also erupts

Earlier in the day, employees of four garment factories in Gazipur also refused to start work on Saturday and instead demonstrated for dues, including allowances and 15 days' salary for the current month, police said.

Workers at Rita Textile Mill, in Konabari Bangladesh Small and Cottage Industries Corporation industrial area in Gazipur Sadar, began their agitation at nine in the morning.

The workers called off the demonstration at 1:30pm when factory authorities promised to meet their demands, Mohammad Yusuf Ali, sub-inspector of Konabari Police Post, told bdnews24.com.

At one point police intervened to stop a fight between sewing machine operators and security guards of the factory, said Ali.

Employees of Stylo Fashions Limited, in Gazipur Sadar upazila, also organised a demonstration demanding payment of their arrears.

The workers shattered a number of windows in the factory building, although they called of the action when the owners promised to clear their back pay, sub-inspector of Hotapara Police Station, Mohammad Rafiqul Islam, told bdnews24.com.

In a third incident, over 600 employees of garment factory Win Wear Ltd, in the Kolomeshwar area of Gazipur Sadar, withdrew their labour and organised a rally demanding payment of salaries and allowances.

The workers started their action at noon, and only called a halt to their demonstration at 3.45 in the afternoon when factory authorities promised to clear their arrears, said Mollah Shoeb Ali, sub-inspector at Joydevpur Police Station.

Deadlines come and go

Workers unions had earlier given the deadline of Sep 16 (Wednesday) for owners to pay up the dues and bonuses that workers depend on to celebrate Eid with their families.

Workers of at least six garment factories, who had closed their doors without paying salaries and festival bonus to around 1,500 employees, marched towards the prime minister's office last Wednesday, with only one working day to go for payment of their salaries and festival allowances before the long Eid holiday began.

The plight of workers of closed factories ahead of Eid was mentioned in parliament earlier in the week, against the backdrop of protests over late payment of dues and bonuses.

Commerce minister Faruq Khan said his ministry would address the issue, making sure all workers were paid up in time for Eid.

He told parliament last Tuesday, "The owners have assured the government that they will pay the workers all dues ahead of Eid."

"The government has been closely monitoring the situation."

However, Thursday was the last working day before Eid, Saturday was the last banking day, and many factories were yet to pay their workers by Sunday.

There are around 2,010 garments factories in Dhaka and adjacent areas of Narayanganj, Savar, Ashulia, Tongi, employing over one million workers.

Some 80 factories have shut down in recent months due to recession-related troubles, according to authorities.

According to a police intelligence report another 51 factories with "no work orders" were in danger of closing their doors with owners absconding—as they had no way to pay dues before Eid—and their workers most likely to go unpaid.

Take Myanmar's Military Ambition Seriously: BIPSS

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Bangladesh needs to seriously take the issue of Myanmar's reinforced military presence along the border to safeguard its national security, a Dhaka-based think-tank says.

The Bangladesh Institute of Peace and Security Studies (BIPSS), a think-tank that deals with security issues in South and Southeast Asia, in a publication has suggested that there are many contentious issues with neighbour Myanmar and those need to be resolved for the national interest.

The issues such as Rohiynga and dispute over maritime boundary have daunted the relations between the two neighbours in recent times, says an article of its publication, BIPSS FOCUS.

It says Myanmar's recent strengthening of military presence in the Rakhine state, which borders Bangladesh, is a big concern.

"Bangladesh needs to take Myanmar's recent military ambition seriously," the publication says in an article, titled "Bangladesh –Myanmar Relations: The Security Dimension".

It says Myanmar has increased movement of troops while construction of concrete pillars and barbed-wire fences along the border has been sped up.

The military junta in Myanmar has also extended the runway of Sitwee Airport enabling it for operation of MiG-29 multi-role combat aircraft and all 12 MiG-29 aircraft of Myanmar Air Force are presently deployed at Sitwee, the article says. Land has also been acquired for construction of airport at Buthidaung, it adds.

The article says massive repair and reconstruction of road, bridges and culverts are going on in Western Command area while regular disembarkation of tanks, artillery guns, Recoilles Rifles, mortars in Buthidaung river jetty is going on.

Saying that such developments are "alarming" for Bangladesh, the article further says that Myanmar has commenced barbed-wire fencing along the border with Bangladesh since March 2009, and so far approximately 38 kilometer fencing is completed till end of July this year.

Considering all these issues, the article says: "It is observed that Bangladesh-Myanmar relations have developed through phases of cooperation and conflict."

"Conflict in this case is not meant in the sense of confrontation, but only in the sense of conflict of interests and resultant diplomatic face-off," it says.

The article warns that "unfriendly relations with Myanmar can benefit small insurgent groups living in the hilly jungle areas of the southern portion of the Chittagong Hill Tract, which can cause some degree of instability in the area and become a serious concern for national security."

The article also suggests that Bangladesh can benefit in ways by maintaining a good relation with Myanmar, which has a good friendship with China.

"It (Myanmar) is the potential gateway for an alternative land route opening towards China and Southeast Asia other than the sea," it says. "Such road link has the potentiality for a greater communication network between Bangladesh and Southeast Asian countries including Thailand, Malaysia and Singapore."

Moreover, the article says, with a rich natural resource base, Myanmar is a country with considerable potential.

"Myanmar's forests and other natural resources like gas, oil, stones are enormous from which Bangladesh can be benefited enormously," it says.

The article suggests the policymakers review the existing defence priorities to suit the magnitude of threat being faced by the nation.

"The policy regarding Myanmar needs to be a careful combination of effective diplomacy while safeguarding our security interests," it says.

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Bangladesh: The Modern Face of Slavery | Economy Governance

DHAKA, 7 August 2009 (IRIN) - Tens of thousands of people are working as bonded labourers in rural Bangladesh, say activists. Even though it is illegal, entire families, including children, are bonded to their employers while they struggle to pay back loans.

"Thousands of children are being forced into bonded labour every day because of poverty and their parents' unemployment," Sumaiya Khair, a human rights activist and researcher into child labour in Dhaka, the capital, told IRIN.

"The biggest tragedy is that it all seems to go unnoticed," she said.

According to Anti-Slavery International, bonded labour - or debt bondage - is probably the least-known form of slavery and yet the most widely used method of enslaving people.

Although proscribed by international law, millions worldwide are affected, particularly in South Asia, including India, Pakistan and Nepal.

"Forced labour is the antithesis of decent work," ILO Director-General Juan Somavia said earlier this year. "It causes untold human suffering and steals from its victims. Modern forced labour can be eradicated, providing there is a sustained commitment by the international community, working together with government, employers, workers and civil society."

The face of slavery

Although rare in urban Bangladesh, bonded labour is common in rural areas.

Unlike in cities where workers are paid a daily or fixed wage, the rural workforce mostly has to make verbal arrangements for wages, which are often manipulated by unscrupulous landlords and loan sharks, known as Mahajan.

Still another way to become bonded is being forced to take out a loan due to a temporary financial crisis, often caused or aggravated by a poor harvest or family emergency.

Once bonded, the labourer is then forced to work long hours for little or no pay, often seven days a week.

Many, mostly women and children, end up as domestic servants, working in conditions that resemble servitude. Many suffer physical abuse, sometimes resulting in death, activists say.

"Domestic servants, especially the women and children, are often exposed to inhuman treatment. Few, if any, are concerned with this matter unless a tragedy like a death by torture becomes public," Nazma Ara Begum, director of the Family Planning Association of Bangladesh (FPAB), an NGO that also works with victims of domestic torture, told IRIN.

Legislation

In 1972, Bangladesh ratified both ILO Convention No. 29 (1930), the Forced Labour Convention and ILO Convention No. 105 (1957), the Abolition of Forced Labour Convention.

The law prohibits forced or bonded labour and the Factories Act and Shops and Establishments Act provide for inspection mechanisms to strengthen laws against forced labour.

"Forced labour has been present in Bangladesh for centuries. After the liberation of Bangladesh, it changed its form and has taken the new face of various 'contracts' associated with loans taken by poor farmers from the usurers," Mohamad Abul Quasem, founder of the human rights related NGO Uddyam and member of the Bangladesh Red Crescent Society, said.

Human trafficking

Bangladesh prohibits trafficking in persons under the Repression of Women and Children Act of 2000 (amended in 2003); however, there is extensive trafficking in women and children, primarily to India, Pakistan, Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait, and within the country, mainly for prostitution and in some instances for labour servitude.

The exact number of women and children trafficked is unknown.

In 2008, the government created a 12-member anti-trafficking investigative unit that complements the existing anti-trafficking police unit.

Last year, 231 victims of trafficking were rescued and 34 offenders convicted, of whom 26 were sentenced to life imprisonment.

In addition, Bangladeshi men and women migrating to the Middle East and elsewhere for work often face bonded labour as a result of fraud or illegal fees demanded by recruitment agents.

"It is regrettable how crooked recruitment agencies often lure young men to their doom with false promises of jobs. The victims are often unable to contact their loved ones and remain stranded in foreign lands without decent payment and [in] inhuman living conditions. This is the modern face of slavery," Motasim Billah, a manpower consultant, told IRIN.

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Religion, Secularism Working in Tandem in Bangladesh

by Nicole Naurath

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Despite the return to power of Bangladesh's Awami League -- the political party that won in December 2008 on a platform of secularism, reform, and a suppression of radical Islamist groups -- religiosity is by no means waning in the world's seventh most populous country. A Gallup Poll of Bangladesh conducted this year finds practically all Bangladeshis saying that religion is an important part of their daily lives (100%) -- relatively unchanged from the three previous Gallup Polls of Bangladesh.

Religion has played a prominent role in Bangladesh's political history. After gaining independence from Pakistan in 1971, the Awami League founded Bangladesh under the guiding principle of secularism. However, power shifts between the Muslim Bangladesh Nationalist Party and the military throughout the 1980s and 1990s resulted in Islam being added to the constitution and declared the official state religion. Though still officially on the books today, the current government defines the country as "secular with a majority Muslim population," and not officially as a Muslim state.

It seems as though the general population is further defining the roles of politics and religion in their country by drawing a distinct line between the two. Support for the secular Awami League, according to Time magazine, is as high as it was when they won an overwhelming victory in the pivotal 1970 election that led to the war of independence from Pakistan. At the same time, religiosity remains strong in this country of nearly 90% Muslims: More people claim to have attended a religious service in 2009 than in years past, and confidence in religious organizations has increased over the years.

Simultaneous strong support of the secular Awami League and the near unanimous importance of religion in daily life suggests that while religion is vital in Bangladeshis' daily lives, they are appear comfortable with its lack of influence in government.

Confidence in the current government is strong: 87% of Bangladeshis approve of the job performance of the overall leadership of the country and 88% approve specifically of the job performance of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. If Hasina and the Awami League can fulfill campaign promises and maintain order in what has often been a tumultuous state, there is no reason to believe that support for the ruling party will wane in the near term.

For complete data sets or custom research from the more than 150 countries Gallup continually surveys, please contact worldpollpartners@gallup.com or call 202.715.3030.

Survey Methods

Results are based on face-to-face interviews with at least 1,000 adults, aged 15 and older, conducted in May 2006, May 2007, June 2008, and May 2009 in Bangladesh. For results based on the total sample of national adults, one can say with 95% confidence that the maximum margin of sampling error ranged from a low of ±3.2 percentage points in May 2006 to a high of ±3.42 percentage points in May 2009. The margin of error reflects the influence of data weighting. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.