The New Nation - Internet Edition

Staff Reporter

"The one-fourth labour of Ship Recycling Industry of Bangladesh is child labour. The 10 percent of the labour are below 12 years old, 15-20 percent are below 15 years old and 25 percent are below 18 years old."

This was said at the Launching Ceremony of a report at Dhaka Reporters Unity in the city yesterday.

Young Power in Social Action (YPSA) and International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH) in cooperation with the NGO Platform on Shipbreaking published the report entitled "Childbreaking Yards: Child Labour in the Ship Recycling Industry in Bangladesh."

President of Bangladesh Paribesh Andolon (BAPA) Prof Mozaffar Ahmed attended the programme as chief guest with Chief Executive of YPSA Md Arifur Rahman in the chair. Secretary General of Adhikar Adilur Rahman Khan, Md Jasim Uddin and Md Shahin attended it, among others.

Mozaffar Ahmed said Shipbreaking in South Asia is a dirty, degrading and extremely dangerous job.

Accidents occur on a daily basis, leaving many workers severely injured and death can come suddenly, he added.

He also said the purpose of Childbreaking Yards is not only to denounce child labour but also to shed light on the socio-economic context that pushes children into one of the world's most hazardous jobs

The report was told that the majority ships of the world are sent in Bangladesh, India, Pakistan, China and Turkey for recycling.

In each year, around 600 ships are sent to Ship Recycling Industry.