NGO Shipbreaking platform criticised the shipbreaking yards for not upholding environmental protection and workers' rights on the beaches where hundreds of end-of-life ships are dismantled every year.
The workers are also unprotected from exposure to toxic fumes and asbestos at the shipbreaking yards, leading to illnesses such as cancer.
“It is time for Bangladesh to put an end to the human rights and environmental abuses caused by the shipbreaking industry,” said Rizwana Hasan, chief executive of Platform member organisation Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA). “We succeeded in getting the courts in Bangladesh aware of the disastrous conditions, now the government needs to act, and also the countries from where these ships are sent – Bangladesh is no dumping ground for the world's toxic ships,” she added.
According to data from NGO Shipbreaking Platform, 15 workers died in 2011 and 12 died in 2010.
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