The United Nations special envoy for extreme poverty and human rights, Oliver D. Schutter, has expressed concern about the various effects of Bangladesh’s Digital Security Act. He expressed this concern in a press release on Monday (May 29) after a 12-day visit to Bangladesh.
The Special Envoy said that the government of Bangladesh must reduce its dependence on cheap labor to ensure rights-based development after being upgraded from Least Developed Country (LDC) status to the expected level. A country cannot enjoy its relative advantage or development by keeping people in poverty. Bangladesh’s development is largely driven by an export sector such as the ready-made garment industry, which is highly dependent on cheap labour.
D. Schutter called on the Bangladesh government to use the opportunity of the upcoming upgradation from LDC status in 2026 to reconsider its reliance on the garment industry, as the industry contributes 82 percent of the country’s current export earnings besides creating employment for 4 million people.
He said as Bangladesh moves towards development, it is focusing on giving tax incentives to international investors and establishing special economic zones.
The UN expert added that governments need to spend more time and resources on ensuring fair wages, educating and training workers and improving social protection. Such an initiative will not only attract reputation-conscious investors, but it will create a new paradigm of development in Bangladesh, driven by domestic demand rather than discriminatory export opportunities.
Oliver D. Schutter expressed concern about the various effects of the government’s Bureau of NGO Affairs and the Digital Security Act on civil society that believes in freedom of action, saying journalists, human rights activists, opposition politicians and academics have been arrested for exercising their right to free expression under this law.
He said, these issues will not only scare the investors that the country wants to attract, but will also create obstacles in the realization of the overall economic and social rights of the country. You cannot provide healthcare, education or social protection without ensuring accountability and transparency.
During the tour, Schutter traveled across the country and met with people living on the poverty line. He noted that while the country has made significant progress in reducing overall income inequality, multidimensional poverty remains and, in particular, income inequality has increased in urban areas.
This special envoy said that overall economic progress has been uneven. Tribals, Dalits, Vedes, Trans-genders and religious and linguistic minorities such as Biharis are denied opportunities. The government has carried out evictions in informal settlements in the name of development. In this case the right to housing has been violated without following due process or providing adequate compensation and rehabilitation.
D. Schutter called on the government to further rationalize the social security system, which he described as an integrated operation of 119 schemes on an ad hoc or temporary basis. But these are poorly integrated, which does not provide Bangladeshis with the expected income security.
He expressed concern that the tax-to-GDP ratio is significantly low (about 7.8 percent) and that nearly two-thirds of government revenue for financing social security guarantees comes from indirect taxes, while only one-third comes from direct taxes on income. The image should be reversed. High-income earners and big businesses should contribute to the financing of public services and social protection, not consumers.
Social protection programs should be developed to protect populations from new and significant risks posed by climate change, the Special Envoy said. In 2022 alone, 7.1 million Bangladeshis were internally displaced and their livelihoods threatened due to river erosion, cyclones, floods and other disasters or water salinity.
A visit to Cox’s Bazar was included as part of the Special Envoy’s mission. D. Schutter visited refugee camps housing 977,798 Rohingya refugees, most of whom fled the genocidal attacks on their homeland in 2017.
While hailing the government of an already overcrowded country of Bangladesh for sheltering nearly one million refugees, he lamented the unlivable conditions of the refugee camps.
This expert said that the Rohingyas should be provided with a comfortable and dignified life until the conditions of repatriation are met. In this regard, both the Bangladesh government and the international community have to play a positive role.
The Special Envoy said that it is unexpected that international donors have contributed so little to the 876 million US dollars joint planning initiative to deal with urgent humanitarian needs in Rohingya camps in 2023 that only 17 percent of the needs have been raised. The World Food Program has reduced the price of its food vouchers from $12 to $10 per month starting in March 2023, and will further reduce it to $8 next June.
Malnutrition and lack of adequate nutrition will increase, particularly for children, D. Schutter warns. In his words, families are becoming desperate. If the Bangladesh government recognizes the Rohingya’s right to employment and provides them with income-earning opportunities in accordance with human rights laws, it will at least alleviate some of their suffering.
The Special Envoy will present his latest report on Bangladesh to the Human Rights Council in June 2024.