US labour policy: Washington mission alerts govt about possible sanctions
Staff Reporter :
As the 12th parliamentary election in the absence of Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) approaches, concerns are rising over potential trade penalties and visa restrictions from the United States on Bangladesh, fueled by labour-related issues.
The Bangladesh embassy in Washington on November 20 sent a letter to the Ministry of Commerce, stating that Bangladesh might face trade penalties and visa restrictions from the US over labour issues.
Senior Commerce Secretary Tapan Kanti Ghosh told the media, “The letter is not an alert. It is normal communication.”
The embassy in the letter stated US Secretary of State Antony J Blinken’s remarks about the labour rights situation in different countries on November 16.
The title of the press release issued by the State Department was “Presidential Memorandum on Advancing Worker Empowerment, Rights, and High Labour Standard Globally.”
According to the Memorandum, the US foreign mission would directly interact with or deal with labour issues; the policy may encourage interested US diplomats or missions to interfere in many internal or domestic issues.
While informing about the new policy on labor rights in the United States, Antony Blinken mentioned the name of Kolpana Aktar, a leader in the garment worker movement in Bangladesh.
He stated that Kollpana has conveyed the message, and the US Embassy in Dhaka stands by her. For this reason, Antony Blinken mentioned that Kolpana is still alive.
The Embassy of Bangladesh in Washington stated that although the memorandum is a global policy that could be applicable to all countries, there are reasons to believe that Bangladesh may be the target of this policy.
Bangladesh Embassy also stated, “There are many reasons for being concerned about the political perspective of the memorandum.
What has been said about labour rights in this memorandum has political implications behind it, and the United States can use this political agenda in various ways.”
“Therefore, this memorandum is a message for Bangladesh because the US can take any step under the excuse of labour rights issues.
The impact of this memorandum can affect the garment sector in Bangladesh.
Every stakeholder should consider it on a priority basis,” the Bangladesh Embassy said in the letter.
According to the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), in the fiscal year 2022-23, Bangladesh exported goods worth $9.7 billion to the United States, with the quantity of garment exports amounting to $8.51 billion.
The United States has been very serious over the upcoming election what they want a free, fair and peaceful election.
For paving the path for fair election, the US also imposed visa restriction policy for the Bangladeshi people if anyone is found implicated in thwarting the democratic election process.
The Election Commission of Bangladesh has already announced the election schedule and the deadline for the nomination submission was fixed on Nov 30.
Still BNP is out of any election preparation as the party’s most of the senior leaders are languishing behind bars over various charges what the opposition said ‘victims of repressions’ by the ruling party.
BNP’s party office is still under lock and key for over one month after the violence on Oct 28.
There is no sign at sight that BNP is going for the election because they said that election under partisan government would not be free and fair and the only way for the guaranty of free and fair election is a caretaker government.
BNP said the ruling party has rejected it under the plea of Constitutional framework. Now the political landscape is volatile and the tension is simmering with each passing days.
