Secretary General of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami and former member of the Parliament Professor Mia Golam Porwar has issued the following statement on 29 April 2020 urging to ensure health safety of the laborers.

“Coronavirus has been spreading alarmingly in Bangladesh. As much the number of tests increase, more patients are reported with covid-19 positive. Even the doctors, nurses and other health staffs are being infected by the coronavirus. Already 729 doctors and health staffs have been suffering from this contagion. These pictures substantiate the severity of the situation.    

The nation has been experiencing lockdown for a long period which caused severe misery and crisis to the people. National economy is also suffering massively. Considering the disastrous financial impact, government has decided to open the RMG factories. According to the statistics of various media, more than 1500 RMG factories have resumed their operations. The factory owners declared to open rest of the factories gradually. Whilst, we have been urging to ensure the health safety of the factory laborers for the sake of their lives.

We firmly believe that, human life is more precious than anything. So, health safety of the laborers must be prioritized. International labor organization (ILO) also warned about this issue. They put emphasis on taking due measures to control and resist the contagion of the coronavirus in the mills and factories. We are worried as such kinds of measures have not taken yet. We are of the view that, a comprehensive and unified efforts of the owners and the laborers must be made to get rid of this crisis.

We are urging the concerned authorities to ensure due health safety of the laborers including to secure their safe attendance at working place, to primary healthcare and necessary social safety and also to supply PPE to the laborers at free of cost immediately.”