[Bangladesh] El proletariado del sector textil protagoniza violentas protestas

Bangladesh: Trabajadores del textil se rebelan ante explotación de empresas occidentales

Los trabajadores del sector textil en Bangladesh han protagonizado este viernes violentas protestas en distintos puntos del país después de que el derrumbe de un edificio, en el que había cinco fábricas de ropa, se haya cobrado ya la vida de 292 personas y haya dejado más de un millar de heridos, informan los medios locales.

Los equipos de rescate siguen trabajando contrarreloj en busca de supervivientes entre la montaña de escombros a que quedó reducido el miércoles el Rana Plaza, un edificio de nueve plantas en Savar, localidad próxima a Dacca.

Hasta mediodía han conseguido recuperar otros 34 cadavéres, lo que eleva el balance a 292 fallecidos, 241 de los cuales ya han sido entregados a sus familias, según informa el ‘Daily Star’, que cita a responsables del recuento de víctimas. Además, unas 2.100 personas han conseguido salir con vida de la tragedia.

Entretanto, miles de trabajadores del sector textil se han manifestado este viernes en Dacca por la muerte de sus compañeros en la tragedia y para reclamar que se castigue a los propietarios de las fábricas para las que trabajaban.

La Policía, tras inspeccionar el edificio, ordenó su cierre pero su propietario, Sohel Rana, pidió a un ingeniero que realizara un informe favorable en el que se aseguraba que el edificio era seguro que presentó a los cinco empresarios textiles que tenían sus fábricas en el mismo. Dos de ellos ordenaron a sus trabajadores que fueran a trabajar el miércoles.

La protesta de los trabajadores textiles ha cortado el tráfico en algunos puntos de la capital. Además, algunos de ellos, muy enfurecidos, han atacado un centenar devehículos armados con palos y otros utensilios en distintas zonas, según el ‘Daily Star’. Asimismo, también se han producido algunos ataques puntuales contra fábricas de ropa.

Precisamente, en la localidad de Gazipur, en la provincia de Dacca, trabajadores del sector textil han prendido fuego a dos fábricas de ropa, en las que los bomberos han tenido problemas para llegar ya que los manifestantes habían bloqueado el tráfico.

Las organizaciones por la defensa de los trabajadores textiles en Bangladesh han denunciado que la responsabilidad de que ocurran numerosos accidentes en este lucrativo sector es de la negligencia del Gobierno y de las empresas occidentales, más interesadas en el ahorro de costes que en la seguridad.

La catástrofe, pone en jaque una vez más a un sector que el año pasado generó 15 millones de euros en exportaciones, y que contribuyó a difundir en casi todos los hogares occidentales la etiqueta ‘Made in Bangladesh’.

Algunos de los trabajadores del edificio Plaza Rana Savar cobraban 28 euros al mes, haciendo ropa para la asequible marca irlandesa ‘Primark’, entre otras empresas.

En enero ya se produjo un incendio en una de las fábricas de suministro de la empresa española Inditex, líder mundial en la industria textil y propietaria de la marca Zara, que causó ocho muertos (dos de ellos, menores de edad).

The owner of a building that collapsed in Bangladesh killing hundreds faced an angry crowd when he appeared in court.

Mohammed Sohel Rana, wearing a police helmet and bullet-proof jacket for the hearing, was remanded in custody for 15 days to face questioning by police.

Officials say there is little hope any more survivors will be found in the rubble of the devastated building.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh has defended its decision not to accept foreign help with the disaster.

Home Minister Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir told the BBC his government was confident it could handle the situation and said the local authorities had done a good job.

Both the UK government and the United Nations have said they had teams of experts ready to head out to Bangladesh, but their offer of help was turned down.

Rescue work at the site of the Rana Plaza garment factory continued for a sixth day on Monday, but army spokesman Shahinul Islam said "there is little hope of finding anyone alive".

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina visited the site and some of the victims in hospital, assuring them they would receive help from the government.

However, some relatives of those missing complained that she did not speak to them during her visit.
'No-one seen alive'

Mohammed Sohel Rana was arrested on Sunday near the Indian border, having been on the run since the collapse of his eight-storey building on 24 April.

A local leader of the youth wing of the prime minister's Awami League party, he was filmed in handcuffs after being flown back to Dhaka by helicopter on Sunday.

Surrounded by police, and shouted at by the crowd, Mr Rana was led into court wearing protective clothing, to hear a magistrate grant a police request to hold him for 15 days for questioning.

He faces allegations of negligence, illegal construction and persuading workers to enter a dangerous building.

Mr Rana is one of eight people arrested. His father Abdul Khalek and four factory bosses are among the others detained.

At least 3,000 people are estimated to have been in the Rana Plaza building when it collapsed. About 2,430 are now known to have survived but hundreds are dead or missing.

On Sunday night, rescuers working deep inside the rubble were told to leave, as cranes were brought in to begin lifting the heavy blocks of fallen concrete.

Rescue co-ordinators said that work with heavy-lifting gear would be done carefully to avoid further collapses and to protect bodies trapped under the debris as much as possible.

Fire brigade chief Brig Gen Ali Ahmed Khan said crews had seen bodies lying on the ground inside, but that "no-one was seen alive".

Anger at the building's collapse has triggered days of violent protests in Dhaka demanding those responsible be punished and for an improvement in factory conditions.

Garment industry workers across the country were given the weekend off, in the hope that the anger would fade.

But on Monday, thousands of workers walked out of factories in the Ashulia and Gazipur industrial districts shortly after they opened, and staged a protest march, reportedly setting fire to an ambulance.

Bangladesh has one of the largest garment industries in the world, providing cheap clothing for major Western retailers that benefit from its widespread low-cost labour.

But the industry has been widely criticised for its low pay and limited rights given to workers and for the often dangerous working conditions in garment factories.

Primark, whose supplier was based in the building, said on Monday that it was helping to provide emergency food aid to the families affected and planned to "pay compensation to the victims of this disaster who worked for its supplier".