Tens of thousands of children in Cox’s Bazar toil in the fish drying industry where they are paid just one fourth of what a similarly employed adult would make.
A large number of the child workers, all of them under 14 years of age, are bonded labourers.
A government plan to eradicate child labour by 2016 notwithstanding, nearly 40,000 children work in dried fish farms around the Cox’s Bazar coastal area, often in unhygienic conditions.
Children typically receive between Tk60 and Tk80 per day, working from 8am until evening, with just a half-hour break for lunch.
Adults get paid between Tk280 and Tk300 for the same task.
Habib, a Moheshkhali trader, claimed that it was not a case of underpaying children at all. “They do not do a very good job but since they help around, we pay them something so they do not feel bad.”
Kabir Ahmed Sawdagar, chairman of the Cox’s Bazar Fishing Boat Owners Association, told the Dhaka Tribune that over 40,000 children under the age of 14 work at different dried fish businesses in the district.
The parents of these children are compelled by a lack of alternative sources of employment to force their children to work in the sector, he said.
’This is the only work available’
Dried fish production begins in September each year and continues until the following May.
At the beginning of each season, traders strike deals with minors, ranging from Tk35,000 to Tk42,000 for a season’s worth of work, the Dhaka Tribune discovered on a trip organised and funded by the Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum last week.
During these nine months of bonded labour, child workers toil all day, sometimes into the night, but never receive overtime.
Eleven-year-old Raisul from Nazirartek in Cox’s Bazar told the Dhaka Tribune that financial troubles at home compelled him to commit to a 9-month Tk42,000 deal with dried fish traders. Last year, he worked under less stressful conditions as a day labourer, for Tk 80 to Tk100 per day.
Dried fish is produced in Kutubdia, Moheshkhali, Teknaf, Ukhia, and Cox’s Bazaar sadar. Wage rates vary by region and by market conditions.
Moheshkhali has the lowest wages with Tk60 a day per child the going rate; in Cox’s Bazar sadar the top wages for children can reach Tk180 per day.
Mayamuni, a 12-year-old girl from Moheshkali, told the Dhaka Tribune that she earns Tk80 per day working in the dried fish business.
Asked why she agreed to work for such little pay, Mayamuni explained that her mother, brother and father all work in the fish drying sector. “If we do not do this, what will we eat?”
Moheskhali has nearly 180 dried fish producers. With nearly 20 children working in each fish drying business, there are some 3,600 are employed in the sector.
Naziratek has 250 fish drying firms where 20,000 people work. Thirty percent of the labourers are below the age of 14, according to traders.
Farid, a 12-year-old boy who works in Naziratek, told the Dhaka Tribune that he washes fish in sea water every morning and then lays them out on a tray to dry.
He looks out towards the horizon.
“This is the only work available,” he says, unhappily.
