Child Labor and Forced Labor Reports

Bangladesh

Bidis (hand-rolled cigarettes)
Bidis (hand-rolled cigarettes)
Child Labor Icon
Bricks
Bricks
Child Labor Icon
Dried Fish
Dried Fish
Child Labor Icon
Forced Child Labor Icon
Forced Labor Icon
Footwear
Footwear
Child Labor Icon
Furniture (steel)
Furniture (steel)
Child Labor Icon
Garments
Garments
Child Labor Icon
Forced Labor Icon
Glass
Glass
Child Labor Icon
Leather
Leather
Child Labor Icon
Matches
Matches
Child Labor Icon
Poultry
Poultry
Child Labor Icon
Salt
Salt
Child Labor Icon
Shrimp
Shrimp
Child Labor Icon
Soap
Soap
Child Labor Icon
Textiles
Textiles
Child Labor Icon
Jute (textiles)
Jute (textiles)
Child Labor Icon
Bangladesh
2022 Findings on the Worst Forms of Child Labor:

Minimal Advancement – Efforts Made but Regression in Practice that Delayed Advancement

In 2022, Bangladesh made minimal advancement in efforts to eliminate the worst forms of child labor. The Department of Inspections for Factories and Establishments rescued 3,990 children from working in various hazardous sectors. Furthermore, the government added five additional sectors to the hazardous work list (dried fish production; informal steel-based work; brick and stone production, collection, and carrying; tailoring and informal production of garments; and waste management), officially prohibiting children from working in these jobs. The Bangladesh government also launched its first national study on human trafficking. The study will help provide a baseline understanding of the human trafficking situation in the country, including how human trafficking crimes are committed and how victims are targeted. The government supported UNICEF’s rollout of the Myanmar Curriculum to over 250,000 Rohingya children in 2022, providing Rohingya students with a formal, standardized education based on Burma’s national curriculum. However, despite these initiatives to address child labor, Bangladesh is assessed as having made only minimal advancement because it continued to hinder educational opportunities for Rohingya children in 2022. Reports indicate that the Bangladesh government closed Rohingya-operated schools and threatened to confiscate UNHCR-issued identity cards from Rohingya teachers and move them to the flood-prone island of Bhasan Char, which hampered education access for Rohingya children. Furthermore, children in Bangladesh are still subjected to the worst forms of child labor, including commercial sexual exploitation, sometimes as a result of human trafficking, and forced labor in the drying of fish and the production of bricks. Children also perform dangerous tasks in the production of garments and leather goods. The Bangladesh Labor Act does not apply to children working in all sectors in which child labor occurs. Though the government did not publicly release information on its criminal law enforcement efforts related to child labor in 2022, penalties for child labor violations can only be imposed after a lengthy legal process and, when courts do impose them, the fines are too low to deter child labor law violations.

Want this report plus over a thousand pages of research in the palm of
your hand? Download ILAB's Sweat & Toil App today!