Bondage perpetuates amid growth!

We are so engrossed in the exponential development figures that we hardly care about those people who are toiling in enslaved conditions to fuel the growth engine. The grim picture came out in a recent survey report prepared by Australia-based Walk Free Foundation. It says that over 15 lakh people in Bangladesh are engaged in modern slavery with some 44 percent of the population being vulnerable to the scourge. Regrettably, the situation has deteriorated since 2014 when the number was 6.8 lakh. 

The global slavery index defines slavery as "situations of exploitation that a person cannot refuse or leave because of threats, violence, coercion, abuse of power and deception". According to the report, the most common form of slavery in Bangladesh is forced labour which is particularly prevalent in manufacturing, manual labour, construction, drug production and farming. Commercial sexual exploitation, child marriage and trafficking are also perpetuating the worst form of exploitation. 

The findings of the report lay bare the poor condition of labour rights in Bangladesh. The labourers engaged in informal sectors are the worst victims of exploitation. There is hardly any regulation to protect the rights of these workers. Our law enforcement initiatives are also not adequate to deter crimes like forced prostitution, trafficking and child marriage. The implementation of programmes and policies to address this abhorrent situation are not cohesively implemented by the government. We can't emphasise more on the point that we need to abolish all forms of inhuman labour to ensure equality, human dignity and sustainable development of the country.