‘Shine A Light’: 34 Bangladeshis Treated Inhumanely for 5 Months

A local construction company had unlawfully housed 34 Bangladeshi workers in poorly ventilated shipping containers for five months in Volivoli, Rakiraki.

Pacific General Builders is based in Lautoka. The company was registered in 1991 and is owned by Sunil Prasad.

Minister for Employment Agni Deo Singh released a statement on Tuesday saying his ministry was aware of the situation and the matter was being investigated by the Division of Anti-Human Trafficking Services of the Fiji Police Force for potential elements of forced labour or human trafficking.

Mr Singh went on to say that the company was issued a stop work order and a $10,000 fine for breaching part of the employment regulation.

The ministry was made aware of the inhumane treatment of the workers after some of the local and migrant workers had lodged the report.

Also, this newspaper had raised the issue with the minister, which prompted his press statement.

Migrant workers are important because they compensate for the labour shortages in agriculture, construction and high-skilled emigration.

However, like other migrant workers, Bangladeshi workers are susceptible to unfair working conditions in Fiji.

When we visited the Volivoli site on Wednesday, the 34 Bangladeshi workers were seated along the verandah of the company office waiting for the Department of Immigration staff.

In sight were the shipping containers the workers use to sleep and cook in using gas stoves. There are five shipping containers with each container housing eight workers.

The workers’ clothes hung on the fence of the property.

Some of the workers who we conversed with said they signed a three-year contract to construct a resort in Volivoli, and they’d just completed their fifth month working as builders for the company.

They said it was always hot inside the container when the dawn starts to break, and when they sleep at night, they leave the door of the container slightly open to allow fresh air to enter.

Pacific General Builders’ owner Mr Prasad disputes the claims that his workers were housed in poorly ventilated shipping containers.

“They’re not staying in the container,” he said over the phone.

“That’s the problem, you people don’t know what the actual story is. They were staying beside the container … the shed is right there

Pressed on the workers’ working conditions and wages, Mr Prasad said: “What do you mean? Are you an employment officer? If the wages are not paid, they could have complained earlier.”

We had informed Mr Prasad that we were supplied photos of the workers’ bedding and kitchenware inside the containers.

Mr Prasad questioned the authenticity of the photos, saying: “Are they sleeping in the photos? Anybody can put the mattress in there and take a photo.”

It is understood the workers are now sharing five houses in Volivoli following the intervention of the Ministry of Employment.

The 2024 Trafficking in Person report by the United States Government for Fiji indicated that “labour traffickers exploit workers from South and East Asian countries, including Bangladesh and India, in small, informal farms and factories, as well as in the construction and timber sectors”.

Minister for Home Affairs Pio Tikoduadua told Parliament in September that Bangladeshis were issued the highest number of work permits between January and July this year.

Bangladeshis were issued 713 work permits out of the 2009 permits issued this year. Bangladeshis are recruited to work mainly in the construction and manufacturing sectors.

The International Organisation for Migration noted in its report, Migration in the Republic of Fiji: A Country Profile 2020 that the number of Bangladeshis on short and long-term work permits had risen sharply since 2017.

Bangladeshis became the second prominent nationality granted work-related permits in Fiji in 2019.

A WORKER’S EXPERIENCE

In a separate incident, another Bangladeshi citizen had raised similar issues of unfair working conditions while being employed by a trucking company in the Western Division.

Speaking over the phone from Bangladesh, Mr Sahel Rana said he was promised proper working conditions, fair wages and medical insurance, but they were false promises.

“We were cheated right from the start,” he said.

Mr Rana was employed in Fiji for nine months before returning to Bangladesh.

As a qualified carpenter, he had also signed a three-year contract to work in carpentry.

Instead, he was told to carry out cleaning and gardening work.

His contract specified that he was to work 45 hours a week.

However, he and 22 other Bangladeshis were required to work between 48 to 56 hours each week but were only compensated for 45 hours.

Mr Rana and the other Bangladeshi workers were recruited as carpenters and assistance carpenters.

Mr Rana said each worker had paid the recruiting agency $10,000.

But they used more money while in Fiji, having to pay for their food, medical bills, and working tools.

He added six people were accommodated in the room.

Because of the working conditions he and the others endured, he started asking questions but was forced to return to Bangladesh because he was offered little assistance.

The shipping containers had no ventilation and were used for sleeping.

VALUE OF MIGRANT WORKERS IN BANGLADESH

Bangladesh relies on its migrant workers for its foreign revenue.

Remittance is the highest revenue earner for the Bangladesh economy, second to their reliance on the garment industry.

In September 2024, the country recorded US$2.405 million (FJ$5.4 million) in remittances.

Recruitment is either carried out by the Government or private agencies.

Bangladeshis face similar inhumane and unfair working conditions in countries such as Malaysia and Thailand.

The recruitment process is often unscrupulous and fraudulent, beginning with the recruiting agents – sometimes workers are recruited to work without proper work permits.

According to a photography educator based in Bangladesh, Abir Abdullah, little has been done to solve the problem.

He said the recruitment system had not been reviewed over the years which allowed many agencies to carry out fraudulent recruits.

“Many family members in Bangladesh are not aware of the conditions of their family members in Fiji,” he said.

GLOBAL PROBLEM

Bangladeshi migrant workers being duped into travelling overseas for jobs they didn’t agree to is a global problem. Several UN agencies expressed concern earlier this year that many workers had been recruited to Malaysia and exploited for jobs that didn’t exist.

According to the International Labour Organisation (ILO), there were 169 million international migrant workers globally in 2019 and they represented 4.9 per cent of the labour force worldwide.

Some Fijians working overseas have also become victims of similar circumstances.

In most cases, these Fijians are duped into working in other countries, having to deal with unfair and inhumane working conditions because work contracts are not honoured by the employers.

Fiji is among other countries that have ratified the 31 ILO Convention.

This includes eight core conventions which promote freedom of association, equal remuneration, collective bargaining rights, and the abolition of forced labour.

Feedback: ivamere.nataro@fijisun.com.fj