Bangladesh, following the Savar Tragedy, is frantically exploring all avenues of diplomacy to illustrate the current labour situation in the country.
“Foreign Minister Dipu Moni is scheduled to go to Brussels on May 27 to discuss the labour issue with the European Union (EU),” said a senior official of the foreign ministry Friday.
She is scheduled to meet EU Trade Commissioner Karel De Gucht and High Representative of the Union for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Catherine Ashton and other senior officials of the European Union, he said.
The EU is the biggest destination for Bangladesh made garment products with an estimated export worth $10bn.
“We are trying to engage with all the foreign stakeholders explaining them what the government has done, is doing and will do in the future to ensure better working conditions and workers’ safety at their work place,” the official said.
The foreign minister and the foreign secretary visited Washington last week with the same mission.
“Bangladeshi diplomats held meetings with Secretary of State John Kerry and Congressmen Joseph Crowley, Sander Levin and George Miller.”
The collapse of Rana Plaza, which killed over 1,100 people, Bangladesh has come under fire of the international community over labour safety and security issues.
On April 30, a week of the collapse, the EU issued a statement expressing their grave concern over the labour conditions in Bangladesh.
“The EU is presently considering appropriate actions, including the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) – through which Bangladesh currently receives duty-free and quota-free access to the EU market under the [Everything But Arms] scheme – in order to incentivise responsible management of supply chains involving developing countries,” the statement said.
Meanwhile, senior US Congressman George Miller, one of the 25 congressmen, who wrote letter to the prime minister to improve working conditions, is scheduled to arrive on Dhaka on May 25. He will hold meetings with garment sector leaders and the government officials.
“His visit is focused on readymade garment sector,” said another foreign ministry official.
The Senior Democrat congressman, who was elected in 1975, and his other colleagues in the US Congress on May 17 issued a statement urging US retailers to commit to fully enforceable agreement on Bangladeshi workers’ rights.
“Circumstances are at a tipping point in Bangladesh, much as they were in the wake of the tragic Triangle Shirtwaist fire in New York over a century ago. We urge you to seize this moment, and to help ensure that workers in Bangladesh do not needlessly lose their lives to produce the clothes we wear,” the lawmakers wrote in the letter to the retailers.
The letter was sent to The Gap, JC Penney, The Children’s Place, Walmart, Target, Kohl’s, VF Corporation, Macy’s and Sears/Kmart.
