With nearly two decades of strong economic growth, the world’s highest employment ratios and lowest unemployment rates, and massive technological innovation, some say “Asia is the future” or even “The future is Asia”.

Garment workers have received a fair share of attention over the last few years due to their poor working conditions, low wages and benefits, and inadequate facilities at their factories of employment.

Hundreds of millions of dollars are spent every year on counter trafficking efforts, mostly on investigation and criminal prosecution, raids to "rescue" irregular migrants and sex workers who are thought to be potential victims and trainings to raise awareness among those who might possibly experience or encounter human trafficking.

We would hope that the government would not approach the issue in the usual cavalier manner and dismiss the report offhand. The matter demands to be addressed seriously.

Bangladesh government should urgently remove legal and practical obstacles to unionization in garment industries, Human Rights Watch says.

The United States has said the government of Bangladesh took 'limited measures' to investigate and prosecute cases of abuse and killing by security forces. The US, in its 2015 Country Reports on Human Rights Practices, claimed authorities failed at times to maintain effective control over security forces.

The Saudi Arabian government announces new labour regulations to protect the workers’ rights by bringing the employers under strict rules including financial fines.

Within no time, this demographic dividend may spell a demographic disaster with teeming multitudes of disillusioned, jobless men and women devoid of high skills needed to survive in an environment of cut-throat competition.

Employees at different hotels and restaurants in Pabna are forced to work 12 to 15 hours a day. And despite this long hours of work, they are poorly paid.

RECENTLY, the Office of the United States Trade Representatives (USTR) called on the government of Bangladesh to improve on its labour rights, and in particular to allow for increased unionisation before it would consider restoring trade benefits. In Bangladesh, it now seems to be increasingly accepted that unionisation or some worker constituted collective will help to improve workplace standards. Of course, labour advocates have been arguing this for years, but Rana Plaza provides a tragic reminder that unions play a critical role in improving workplace safety and labour rights. Therefore, freedom of association has been a key criteria in Bangladesh's review on trade benefits. This is a welcome development.