Global garments movement outrage Bangladesh community abroad

Saleem Samad of DOT
The global rights alliance for garments workers of Bangladesh has invited uproar among expat Bangladesh nationals in Europe and North America.
The global movement was spearheaded by an Amsterdam, The Netherlands based Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC), a global alliance dedicated to improving working conditions of factory workers, calls for living wages, safe factories, and a halt to repression against garment workers in Bangladesh.
The rallies were held to protest a death, arrests of 45 garments workers, and over 5,000 dismissals of garments workers during a industrial riot recently in Bangladesh held at Washington DC, The Hague, Berlin, London, Brussels and Geneva and on Friday at New York and Madrid were held in front of Bangladesh embassies and consulates.
Bangladesh expats in different cities in Europe and North America has dubbed the movement against global concern for garment workers’ rights as an “international conspiracy” to create a crisis to thwart Bangladesh achieve middle-income nation.
The current spate of violence and repression come at a time of already increased international attention on the Bangladesh’s garment industry. The protests mounted after the violent responses to recent wage-related protests in Bangladesh garments factories by the state and the threats issued by Bangladesh ready-made-garments owners’ body, while national media played a positive role in highlighting the issues.
Campaign network hastag #WeStandWithGarmentWorkers launched a weeklong campaign of solidarity with garment workers from 28 January to 3 February are calling for living wages, safe factories, and a halt to repression against garment workers in Bangladesh.
Ben Vanpeperstraete of Clean Clothes Campaign says: “The fact remains that, even after recent amendments, workers in Bangladesh still earn poverty wages. The government of Bangladesh is undertaking to intimidate workers and squelch any attempt of workers to organize. Workers have the fundamental right to demonstrate and strike for decent wages and should be able to do so, free from repression. Clean Clothes Campaign urges the government of Bangladesh to respect workers’ rights to peaceful assembly and demonstration, to release all workers and union representatives that were arrested and to drop charges related to the demonstrations.”