Child labour, wage inequalities and serious health risks are issues our team observed during a visit to one of the factories (handmade cigarettes) in Barishal earlier this year. In the first report of this two-part series, we focus on child labor.

When you think of child labor in Bangladesh, the first thing that may come to your mind is children working in construction without any safety measures, breathing toxic fumes in welding workshops, or dismantling ship parts in the shipyard.

But children are often overlooked when they work in hand-rolled cigarette factories, one of which is considered the fourth most dangerous sector for children, according to the Child Labor Unit of the Ministry of Labor and Employment.

And there is a reason behind this.

In one of Bangladesh’s factories, an informal economy based on child labor has developed, in defiance of laws banning hazardous work for anyone under the age of 18.

Many such factories were established in Barishal division more than 45 years ago. While there are three such factories in Barishal city, there are four more in Jhalakathi district.

According to the Factories and Workplaces Inspection Department, 16 of the 38 occupations classified as hazardous for child workers are found in Barishal alone; the most important profession, one of which is manufacturing.

Earlier this year, our newspaper visited these factories and witnessed first-hand the cycle of exploitation that traps children in dangerous work.

Officially, children are not employed and their salaries are not given on their behalf. But the reality inside these factories tells a different story; a story that bypasses regulations, allowing children to work in dangerous conditions under a legal smokescreen.

The arrangement is as dark as it is insidious. Often adult workers – many of them extremely poor – are hired to work in factories, but rather than completing the work themselves, they often bring their own children to help with the work.

For some, the job is completely handed over to a child from another family. This allows the adult to seek additional income elsewhere, while the child spends hours of backbreaking labor on his behalf.

In this system, wages rarely reach young workers directly. When payday comes, the adult “employee” gets paid in full, and only a small portion of that amount is transferred to the child who actually does the work.

A boy who works long hours rolling cigarettes says, “I work here every day, but when it’s time to pay, my uncle comes to collect the money.” “Sometimes he gives me some, but most of it is his.”

Business owners, who are well aware of this gap, ignore the questions by feigning ignorance when they encounter them. “We don’t employ children here,” said a factory manager who wished to remain anonymous when pressed about the young faces working around him. “Parents can sometimes bring their children, but those are not our responsibility,” he said.

Authorities also play a complicit role by rarely inspecting facilities or enforcing regulations that could protect these children.

A 2013 report from the Child Labor Unit of the Ministry of Labor and Employment stated that long-term exposure to tobacco dust can cause lung disease, stomach ulcers, high blood pressure and serious disabilities in both physical and mental development.

BINI FACTORIES IN BARISHAL

At the Karikor Biri factory, the oldest among Barishal’s seven bir factories, around 80 children could be seen hunched over for long hours to meet production quotas.

They sit for hours with their backs hunched and their fingers stained from touching raw tobacco.

Many have a persistent cough. Often parents were seen working side by side with their children.

With no child care options, many women have no choice but to bring their children with them. Babies and young children often sit on dirty factory floors and are exposed to the same risks as their mothers.

Toddlers crawl through layers of tobacco dust, inhaling it and facing health consequences that may not become apparent until years later.

Bangladesh ratified the ILO Worst Forms of Child Labor Convention in 1999, a commitment to eliminate child labor in hazardous industries.

CHILDREN AT RISK

Sixth-grade student Nurul Islam, 11, one of the youngest workers at the Karikor Biri factory, took a shallow, wheezing breath, coughing every few minutes as she sat on a cushion of discarded tobacco leaves. “It hurts when I breathe,” he said, pausing for breath. “But if we don’t work, my family won’t have money to eat. My mother also works here.”

“I can pack 2,000 biris a day,” said Nurul.

In another corner of the factory, nine-year-old Mithila, her face lined with sweat and her fingers painted dark brown, repeated Nurul’s words. “Sometimes it feels like something is stuck in my chest,” he said.

“I see other kids coughing and having trouble breathing, but we don’t talk about it much. That’s just the way it is around here.”

Then there is 10-year-old Jahangir, who is seen rolling cigarettes with machine-like precision.

“I get a headache almost every day because of the smell in here,” he said, squinting as he looked around the smoky room.

“When the situation is very bad, I go out for a while, but I have to come back to help my family, otherwise I will be left behind with my job. I know this is not good for me, but I have no choice”

Siddiqur Rahman, a former professor at Sher-e-Bangla Medical College, highlighted the important link between tobacco use and rising tuberculosis (TB) rates in the region.

Rahman treats about 2,000 tuberculosis patients a year, and more than 60 percent of these cases are linked to tobacco use. He said that tobacco does not only affect adults, but also causes serious health problems and even deaths in children.

AN INHERITIVE CURSE

Meanwhile, 19-year-old Fatema Akther was seen sitting cross-legged and rolling over. Her 13-month-old son was in her arms.

“I started coming to the factory with my mother, Minara Begum, when I was just a child,” he said. “I’m married now and I have a son.”

His 40-year-old mother, Minara, was sitting next to him and doing the same job.

He remembered his own beginnings in the factory. He came here every day with his mother, Hacera Begüm.

In another episode, 28-year-old Shila Halder was working at the station.

Shila’s husband works in an NGO in Mehendiganj, but continues to work there due to financial difficulties.

Her four-year-old daughter is sitting next to her, eating her meal quietly, adapting to the routine of the factory.

Like Shila and Fatema, many mothers in these factories bring their toddlers and young children with them because they have no other options.

“The dust here makes my son cough all the time,” says Shila, looking at her daughter with concern. “I’m worried about his health, but I have nowhere else to leave him.”

WAGE DIFFERENCES

Permanent employees at the factory are paid Tk 90 for the production and packaging of 1,000 biri sticks. These workers have permanent ID cards and receive direct payments from the factory owner. Orders are assigned based on these ID cards, and more experienced employees receive larger orders. While senior employees are ordered a maximum of 32,000 biri sticks per week, new employees are assigned only 16,000 sticks.

The factory owner provides the paper and tobacco necessary for production. However, due to low wages, permanent workers subcontract the labor to local women and children for just Tk 35 to produce and pack 1,000 biris.

The subcontracting process involves paying Tk 16 for processing the paper straw, Tk 3 for filling it with tobacco and Tk 16 for sealing and packaging 1,000 Biri.

As a result, permanent employees earn a profit of Tk 55 per 1,000 sticks. Meanwhile, they often take up alternative jobs, such as driving rickshaws or running tea stalls, while outsourcing labor.

WHAT AUTHORITIES SAY

Mokter Hossain Niraji, inspector of Barishal Factory and Workplaces Inspection Department, said, “Children above 14 years of age can work by fulfilling certain terms and conditions. If we get information about children below this age limit, we will file a case.”

According to the 2020-2021 database of the Welfare Council for the Elimination of Child Labor, 129 children were removed from hazardous work, about 40 of them in factories.

Bijoy Krishna Dey, managing director of Karikor Biri Company Limited, told The Daily Star: “We do not employ children in Biri construction; it is strictly prohibited. We provide equipment to permanent workers and pay them wages.”

“I don’t know if there are any children working in the factory, but if there is a complaint, necessary action will be taken.”

In the investigation carried out by the Factories Department and the meeting held by the Social Assistance Council for the Prevention of Child Labor, it was accepted that children were working in dangerous jobs such as construction.

However, when discussing the elimination of child labor in one of its factories, committee members argued that many children were brought into the factory by their parents for safety reasons and were not technically considered child labor.

Despite this, both committee members and parents admitted that the presence of children in the factory and, in some cases, their involvement in the work caused serious harm and losses.