† Determined by national law or regulation as hazardous and, as such, relevant to Article 3(d) of ILO C. 182.
‡ Child labor understood as the worst forms of child labor per se under Article 3(a)–(c) of ILO C. 182.

Children at Higher Risk

Most child laborers in Bangladesh work in the informal sector. Children living in coastal areas are likely to engage in child labor in the fishing sector, including drying and selling fish. Children from the minority Bihari community are forced into work at a young age, often in jobs considered less desirable. Children experiencing homelessness are forced to beg, pickpocket, and sell drugs. In border areas and the capital city, Dhaka, traffickers force children to produce and transport drugs. Children displaced by natural disasters are also at a higher risk for human trafficking and forced commercial sexual exploitation. Finally, there are reports of Bangladeshi officials taking bribes to provide human traffickers access to refugee camps and facilitate the trafficking of Rohingya children. NGOs allege that some officials allow traffickers to operate at the India-Bangladesh border and checkpoints.

Barriers to Education Access

More than 40 percent of schools lack basic sanitation facilities and hygiene services, and 1 in 5 schools lacks safe drinking water. Many schools in Bangladesh are overcrowded, and over 80 percent run double shifts of students. The country does not have an adequate number of teachers for an education system of its size. The Primary Teacher Training Institutes cannot keep up with the demand for teachers, particularly in rural areas. Other barriers to education include the high costs for transportation, uniforms, and school supplies. The Urdu-speaking Bihari minority children face education barriers due to having temporary addresses associated with residing in long-term camps. The Dalit and lower-caste Hindu children have lagged behind other groups in accessing education. According to reports, 60 percent of children with disabilities from ages 5 to 17 are not enrolled in formal education. Additionally, children born to mothers who are engaged in commercial sex work face barriers in accessing education since they are not permitted to obtain legal birth certificates. Many children from this community do not know their father’s name, which is a legal requirement to gain national identity cards or birth certificates needed for school enrollment. The Myanmar Curriculum, which provides Rohingya students with formal, standardized education based on Burma’s national education system, extended to Grade 11 for the 2024–2025 school year. However, the Myanmar education system as a whole faces implementation challenges such as a large Rohingya population, inexperienced teachers, inadequate teacher recruitment and retention, high turnover of host community teachers, and language and subject knowledge gaps.

* Country has no conscription

Although the Bangladesh government maintains a list of hazardous work prohibited for children, the list does not cover domestic work, a sector in which children are known to work long hours and are exposed to violence and sexual assault. Additionally, the Bangladesh Labor Act does not meet international standards for minimum age for work because a number of sectors and occupations are excluded from its application, including sailors, ocean-going vessels, agriculture farms with fewer than 10 workers, and domestic work. Bangladesh does not sufficiently criminalize commercial sexual exploitation of children because it only criminalizes prostitution when unless the child is under guardianship or a third party has involved them in commercial sex. Bangladesh criminalizes the use of children in the transport of drugs but not in their production. The government’s Primary Education Act stipulates a separate compulsory education age of 10, but this law is not binding as it has not been published in the national gazette. Even if the law were in effect, children between the ages of 10 and 14 would remain vulnerable to child labor as they are not required to attend school and are not able to legally work without restriction. The law permits conscription under certain circumstances and does not prohibit children under 18 from being conscripted. Further, there is no published law establishing 18, or 16 with safeguards for voluntariness, as the minimum age for voluntary recruitment by the state military.

In 2024, 442 labor inspectors conducted 34,008 worksite inspections, finding 3,697 child labor violations. It is unknown whether investigations into suspected cases of the worst forms of child labor were conducted, prosecutions were initiated, or perpetrators were convicted.

The Bangladesh Export Processing Zone Authority (BEPZA) is the official body of the government to promote, attract, and facilitate foreign investment in the Export Processing Zones, and is also responsible for ensuring business compliance with social, environmental, safety, and security regulations in these zones. Although DIFE has the authority to conduct inspections in the Export Processing Zones, it is required to notify BEPZA’s chairman in advance. Since some employers receive notification ahead of labor inspections, child labor violations may go undetected in the Export Processing Zones.

† The government had other policies that may have addressed child labor issues or had an impact on child labor.

‡ Program is funded by the Government of Bangladesh.
† The government had other social programs that may have included the goal of eliminating or preventing child labor.

Download the 2024 Bibliography