Porimol Palma

A chickenpox outbreak in Cox's Bazar Rohingya camps has raised a public health concern in the region, officials say.

The government has banned import and sale of meat and bone meal, a protein concentrate for poultry, because of its health risks to human and livestock.

Jamshed Ali had to cast his vote for “boat” openly in front of the polling officials and agents, which is a blatant violation of the electoral code of conduct.

It was 2:42pm when these correspondents entered a voting booth at Lalbagh Government Primary School in Natore sadar. A voter named Mobarak Hossain, 35, told the polling official his serial number -- 169 -- and his name.

Police picked up at least 14 polling agents of BNP candidates in three constituencies of Natore yesterday, creating fear among the party's leaders and activists on the eve of today's election.

Currently, people's top priority is employment, followed by transport and education, finds a Brac survey ahead of the December 30 polls.

Having faced abuses, at least 50 Bangladeshi women and 75 men returned home from Saudi Arabia on December 10—a historic day when the governments from across the globe signed a non-legally binding Global Compact on Migration in Marrakech, Morocco.

Luring jobseekers to work independently and earn more abroad, brokers charge them high recruitment fees to have “free visas”.

Rohingyas living both in Rakhine and Cox's Bazar are in great risk of trafficking and exploitation as they seek a safe and better life after the brutal military crackdown last year, say law enforcers and aid agencies.

Agriculture scientists in Bangladesh have found a new pest -- fall armyworm -- that has destroyed maize and sorghum fields covering millions of square kilometres and devastated the livelihoods of farmers in Africa.

The November 15 attempt to repatriate Rohingyas to Myanmar has failed. And that was destined too, despite wholehearted efforts from Bangladesh. Although Myanmar officials were quick to blame their Bangladesh counterparts for the “failure”, the ground reality provided a different picture.

In a rare move, Rohingyas in Cox's Bazar camps yesterday began a three-day strike protesting what they say is the forcible issuing of 'smart cards' which exclude the word 'Rohingya'.

The humanitarian operations for the Rohingyas should be more transparent and cost effective as their repatriation may take longer than expected and the funding is inadequate.

Bangladeshi migrants in Malaysia will soon get medical and disability benefits as the Southeast Asian country has decided to bring foreign workers under its Social Security Organisation.

The much-awaited launch of the Rohingya repatriation was cancelled at the last moment yesterday as the refugees refused to return to Rakhine for fear of fresh persecution.

Ambia Khatun has been almost bed-ridden for the last one year. She has not even been able to take a walk in her neighbourhood or see her relatives as the right part of her body became numb since she suffered a stroke a year back.

When 15-year-old Shima Begum, who worked as a house help in Jordan for 17 months, arrived in Dhaka on October 19, there was nobody waiting for her at the airport.

Unpaid since May, about 300 Bangladeshi migrant workers are struggling in a Qatar labour camp that has no running water and power and many of them have become sick.

Kuala Lumpur has opposed Dhaka's proposal for giving the undocumented Bangladeshi migrants in Malaysia a fresh chance to legalise themselves, say officials at the expatriates' welfare ministry.

The previous Najib Razak-led Malaysian government had created the manpower syndicate which “monopolised” the recruitment of Bangladeshi workers in the Southeast Asian country, according to officials and documents obtained by The Daily Star.