Brussels, 30/01/2013 (Agence Europe) - Brussels is calling the Bangladeshi authorities and foreign companies to account, following another fatal fire in a textile factory in Dacca.
In a joint press release published on Wednesday 30 January, EU High Representative Catherine Ashton and Commissioner for Trade Karel De Gucht denounced the deplorable working conditions in Bangladesh, which is considered as one of the poorest countries on earth.
Speaking on behalf of the EU, they said that they were “deeply saddened” by the deaths of seven women workers aged between 16 and 18 when a fire broke out in a clothing factory on 26 January in Dacca. “This tragedy is all the more shocking” as it follows only two months after another textile factory fire in Bangladesh that killed 111 workers and which also produced clothes for western brands. Ashton and De Gucht also said that they are “deeply concerned” by the labour conditions in Bangladesh, including provisions on safety and health protection for workers in factories throughout the country. They point out that “Bangladesh benefits from preferential access to the EU market” and that the EU is the country's biggest trading partner. They urge the country's authorities, with the EU's aid, “to act immediately to ensure that factories comply with international labour standards including International Labour Organisation conventions”. They also underline the responsibility of European and international companies in this issue, urging them to “do more to promote better health and safety standards in garment factories in Bangladesh, in line with internationally recognised guidelines on Corporate Social Responsibility”.
According to US NGO, the International Labor Rights Forum, 600 workers have died in Bangladeshi textile factories since 2005. Textile factories employ more than 2 million people, many of whom are women. The fire at the factory on Saturday, which manufactured clothes for major French and Spanish brands, did not have a licence to carry out this kind of work. On 28 January, the newspaper, Le Monde, reported that “hundreds of similar workshops subcontract some of the production to factories located in special economic zones in the Dacca vicinity, which their clients are sometimes unaware of”. The Bangladeshi government is not keen on imposing safety standards or allowing free trade unions in the textile sector, which accounts for 80% of the country's exports.
In a resolution passed on 17 January last, the European Parliament also denounced the fatal factory fires in Bangladesh and Pakistan. (see EUROPE 10766). (EH/transl.fl)