Bangladesh’s garment industry lost US$400 million to anti-Sheikh Hasina protests

Name: Bangladesh protests widen to target top officials appointed during Sheikh Hasina’s rule
Uploaded: 2024-10-21T03:32:07.000Z
Duration: 3 min 5 s
Description: Bangladesh protests widen to target top officials appointed during Sheikh Hasina’s rule

Industry leaders insist production is ‘currently stable’, but say security forces need to continue protecting garment factories

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Women work at a garment factory in Gazipur, Bangladesh. Photo: Reuters

Agence France-Presse

Published: 11:32am, 21 Oct 2024Updated: 11:53am, 21 Oct 2024

Bangladesh’s vital garment industry lost US$400 million due to unrest following the student-led revolution that ousted the country’s autocratic prime minister, according to industry leaders, insisting the situation was now “stable”.

The South Asian nation’s 3,500 garment factories account for around 85 per cent of its US$55 billion in annual exports, but the unrest caused significant disruptions to the linchpin industry.

After months of deadly protests, ex-leader Sheikh Hasina fled by helicopter to neighbouring India on August 5.

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.

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Bangladesh protests widen to target top officials appointed during Sheikh Hasina’s rule

Such demonstrations sometimes spiralled into violence. On September 30, a garment worker was killed and 20 were injured in clashes between protesters and the police.

Kalpana Akhtar, president of the Bangladesh Garments and Industrial Workers Federation, said on Sunday that there had to be “a drastic change in the attitude” of factory owners and the government.