Bangladesh

World News

4 Years After Rana Plaza Tragedy, What's Changed For Bangladeshi Garment Workers?

7:43am April 30, 2017

by Ashley Westerman

Four years after the deadliest garment factory disaster, a new report by Human Rights Watch finds that many global apparel companies have not signed a transparency pledge regarding its supply chains.

Some 2,000 Rohingya refugee families live in the Balukhali camp in southern Bangladesh, according to the camp's leader.

Health & Safety

Can You Still Have Hope When Life Seems Hopeless?

2:50pm April 23, 2017

by Ashley Westerman

We interviewed Rohingya refugees in Bangladesh and asked about their hopes for the future. We were shaken by their answers.

Workers at a brick factory toil through sweltering heat to shape, dry and bake bricks. The work is seasonal and labor-intensive. The manager says if he has openings, he'll give a job to anyone willing to do the work.

World News

Long-Persecuted Rohingya Find Refuge, But Not Acceptance, In Bangladesh

5:34am April 14, 2017

Rohingya Muslims fleeing a recent crackdown in Myanmar are just the latest wave of refugees to arrive in Bangladesh. But patience is wearing thin in the impoverished country with scarce resources.

Queue Listen Now

The Balukali refugee camp, located about an hour's drive south of the seaside tourist city of Cox's Bazar, is one of many informal camps in southern Bangladesh. An estimated 2,000 Rohingya families who fled neighboring Myanmar live in Balukali.

World News

Rohingya Fleeing Myanmar Describe Military Tactic Of Systematic Rape

9:26am April 13, 2017

Witnesses say Myanmar forces waged a six-month campaign of murder, arson and mass rape after Rohingya militants attacked border guards. The Muslim minority has long faced persecution in Myanmar.

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Workers empty a pit latrine in rural Bangladesh.

Health & Safety

So What Do You Do With The ... Poo ... In A Pit Latrine?

3:22pm March 21, 2017

by Jason Beaubien

That's a problem in Bangladesh, where pit latrines have brought rates of open defecation down — but led to the dumping of 'fecal sludge' in waterways. A new study proposes a possible solution.

Minara Begum (left) and her sister, Rajna Begum, served coconut Mishti (sweets) at the first Bandhu Gardens pop-up at Rose's Fine Food last July.

This Garden Connects Bangladeshi Women With Restaurants — And Each Other

6:42pm March 14, 2017

by Dorothy Hernandez

The female-run Bandhu Gardens in Michigan sells surplus vegetables from backyards and hosts pop-up dinners and cooking classes to help meet the needs of recent immigrants and their families back home.

Babu, 8, works at a brick factory in Narayanganj, Bangladesh.

Study: Child Laborers In Bangladesh Are Working 64 Hours A Week

5:20pm December 07, 2016

by Jason Beaubien

A new report from the Overseas Development Institute finds that impoverished children are working long hours in violation of the country's labor laws.

Firefighters try to extinguish the fire at a packaging factory in the industrial zone of Tongi on Saturday.

World News

Factory Fire In Bangladesh Kills At Least 21

9:17am September 10, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

Officials believe a boiler explosion set off the rapid blaze during a shift change at a packaging factory near the Bangladeshi capital. They fear that some missing workers are trapped in the building.

A boy in the Philippines is vaccinated for dengue fever on April 4. In a new survey, only 2 percent of people polled in the Philippines thought vaccines were unsafe.

Who Has More Faith In Vaccine Safety: Parents In France Or Bangladesh?

7:00am September 10, 2016

by Diane Cole

A survey of nearly 66,000 people worldwide reveals where parents have the most — and least — confidence in vaccines.

World News

Bangladeshi Police Kill Alleged 'Mastermind' Of Cafe Attack That Left 22 Dead

9:17am August 27, 2016

by Merrit Kennedy

Police say two other suspected militants were killed in the standoff. They say Tamim Chowdhury, a Bangladeshi-born Canadian, returned to the country in 2013 and supplied guns and arms to militants.