Only sewing is allowed

Due to the increasing number of cases, Bangladesh has imposed a strict one-week corona lockdown. Everything has to close – except for the textile industry.

By Peter Hornung and Shehab Sumon, ARD studio South Asia Bangladesh has imposed strict restrictions due to the increasing number of new corona infections. There is a strict lockdown with an all-day curfew – but there are exceptions. While most shops and markets are closed and local public transport is just as paralyzed as air traffic, Bangladesh’s textile factories are allowed to continue producing. “We have appealed to the government to keep the factories open,” said Khandoker Rafiqul Islam, vice president of the national association of textile manufacturers BGMEA ARD studio South Asia . The textile companies currently have so many orders: “It is our responsibility to deliver the work on time.”

Fear of another break-in – and of the virus

Bangladesh’s textile industry fears a similar slump as it did a year ago, when orders worth billions were canceled. At that time the government had also closed the textile factories. In addition, the international fashion companies wanted to lose significantly less weight because of the pandemic – a disaster for the country’s most important industrial sector, which is responsible for 80 percent of Bangladesh’s exports. Although the major customers came back later, they would have asked for large discounts in some cases, according to BGMEA. So one damage remained. But now it’s different – the sewing machines keep running. Also that of Shoheda Akhter, who has been working for “Solar Garments” for 16 years, one of the numerous textile factories in Bangladesh’s capital Dhaka. Nevertheless, the 30-year-old is very worried. On the one hand, because she is afraid of losing her income again, as she did last year, her factory should still have to close. On the other hand, because she is afraid of the disease. Even with a low fever, she is afraid of being infected, says Shoheda. After all, with so many factory workers, it is not an easy task for companies to ensure safety.

Jharna Begum hopes not to get infected with the corona virus in the textile factory. But she is dependent on her work. Image: Shehab Sumon / ARD-Studio South Asia She goes to work on foot in the morning and does not drive an overcrowded company bus like many other workers. But the danger is real. Nevertheless, someone like her cannot actually afford to be afraid of corona, says Shoheda: “We get money when we work. If we don’t work, we don’t get anything. So we don’t have much leeway to think about the corona virus.” The equivalent of about $ 250 a month, Shoheda’s family of four lives on. Your own income is even more important since her husband lost a better-paying job in the textile factory because of Corona and can only work as a doorman. Shoheda’s colleague Jharna Begum feels the same way – the fear of loss of income is greater than that of illness. The security in the factory is not far off, says the 26-year-old. “Because this is a textile production, we have to work very closely with one another. We cannot keep the required distance at all. That is due to the nature of our work.”

Open textile mills less dangerous than closures?

In view of the corona risk, it is better to leave the factories open than to close them, says BGMEA Vice President Khandoker Rafiqul Islam, who is a factory owner himself. “During the lockdown last year, we found that the virus is more likely to spread when the bus stations are full and the streets are because workers are moving home.” At that time, the workers had fled the cities by the hundreds of thousands in pure need so as not to starve to death. But isn’t there a risk that the textile factories will become hotspots because of the working conditions? No, says the textile entrepreneur, all hygiene regulations must be observed. In addition, there are company-owned hospitals and isolation centers for the workers. The workers ‘organization “Bangladesh Center for Workers’ Solidarity” does not require the factories to be closed for safety reasons. Her most important demand: the workers’ wages must under no circumstances be cut or completely canceled – like last year, when many were suddenly left with nothing. Aika Fischbeck from the German women’s rights organization Femnet says that the international fashion companies should not be indifferent to what is going on in Bangladesh: “We not only see the factory owners in Bangladesh as having an obligation, but also the fashion companies commissioned should and must take responsibility also ensure that the factories can observe distance rules and hygiene measures in order to protect the workers from infection. ” The only hope left for the worker Jharna Begum is to get through the pandemic in good health despite the working conditions in the textile factory and to be able to continue to feed her family. Because her husband is unemployed because of the effects of the corona pandemic, so the couple cannot repay loans at the moment. But the 26-year-old is confident: “With the grace of the Almighty, he will get a job again as soon as the coronavirus is over.”