Mayesha Raidah

According to Oxford Dictionary the term slavery is defined as the practice or system of owning slave, the state of being a slave or a condition of having to work very hard without proper remuneration or appreciation. One might wonder why the definition of slavery is so important at the beginning of this article since we almost all of are aware of the slavery abolition act passed in 1833 that banned slavery throughout British Colonies and eventually passed on worldwide. Despite acknowledging the seriousness of such a law, people in our country are still trapped into ‘modern slavery’ and have no way of escaping this situation which begs me to elaborate what is modern slavery. Modern slavery also known as contemporary slavery refers to institutions of slavery that continue to exist in the present day. Modern slavery is a multibillion dollar industry that generates up to $ 35 billion. Shocking, isn’t it? What’s worse is between the two months between July to September of 2014; more than 170 men of Bangladesh nationality were rescued from human traffickers in the jungles of Thailand. They all went to Thailand looking for jobs but instead they were drugged, tied up and dragged on boats where they were beaten and starved. Initially, this caused outrage among Bangladeshi while majority of them raised their fingers towards the government since they were unable to protect its citizens but with time, everything was forgotten.
What is truly disconcerting is that both women and men are still lured into bonded labor proves the hopelessness of the lack of livelihood at home. They are desperate for work and would take any measures to earn their bread and butter. As a developing country, we are so engrossed in the exponential development figure that we are hardly concerned about the masses of people who are succumbing to the enslaved condition to boost this growth rate. A survey reported by Australian based Walk Free Foundation reported that over 1.5 million people in Bangladesh are engaged in modern slavery. Can you comprehend the gravity of these numbers?
The global slavery index defines ‘modern slavery’ as situation of exploitation that a person cannot refuse or leave because of threats, violence, and coercion, abuse of power or deception. With this definition in mind, the most common form of slavery in Bangladesh is forced labor which is particularly rampant in manufacturing, manual labor, construction and farming. The modern face of slavery can express itself in many from including domestic workers, low paying domestic workers, tea boys in makeshift eateries and even sex workers. In April 2013, after the demise of more than 1000 people in the Rana Plaza Factory, we can no longer remain silent to the condition labors are being subjected to.
Bangladesh prides itself as one of the countries with a rapid development rate but the cost of this development is often overlooked. Labors involved in informal sectors are the worst victims of exploitation since there are hardly any laws or regulation to protect the rights of these workers. Humans right campaigners have long struggled to improve working conditions but any of their initiatives have back fired. In 1993, Congress proposed the Child Labor Deterrence Act which would have outlawed the import of goods produces child labor ( those under 18 years old ) With majority of workers in garment factories in Bangladesh under the age of 18, the law has quite obviously recoiled.
We have all heard of horror stories about maids in Saudi Arabia being scalded by boiling water or men stuck in trunks. Surely such fates are no better than the Bangladeshi garment workers who lost their lives under the rubble from the collapse of Rana Plaza. Then why are still silent? Why is this not making to the headlines? We should be outraged at how men and women in the working sector of our country abused, tortured and tossed like garbage. We should be mortified that the despite the rapid growth of Bangladesh, we are still looking for means to earn livelihood in such appalling conditions. As a citizen of this country, we can no longer emphasize on the point that we need to abolish all forms of inhuman labor rather we should ensure equality, human dignity and sustainable development of the country.