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works at the plastic recycling plant. They are sick of the terrible pay. They work until they drop and yet their families still have to live in the slum districts. Plus there is the problem of safety in the workplace. Mohmin knows what he’s talking about. He used to work at the oil refinery near the harbour. The refinery, which produces petrol, heating oil, chemicals and asphalt from crude oil, could be mistaken for some kind of industrial museum, not a modern oil refinery. It is actually built from parts of an old industrial unit from the United Kingdom. Forty or fifty years ago, English chemical workers used these very same machines. But then the unit was put out of action. It was too old, too unproductive and too dangerous to pass health and safety laws in England. But it was not too dangerous for the chemical workers of Bangladesh. The refinery workers spend day and night walking through a labyrinth of pipes and metal tanks, wearing only loincloths and putting up with a combination of heat, noise and vile smells. There are no health and safety regulations and no protective clothing.
    It’s not surprising that Mohmin was overcome by toxic fumes which made him so sick he had to go to hospital. By the time he was back on his feet, his job had been given to someone else. Factory owners in Bangladesh don’t have to give their workers sick pay. They simply replace them. There are hundreds more desperate people looking for work who are willing to take their place. Mohmin and his colleagues are keen to make a point about safety, but the line, “Improve Safety in Dangerous Workplaces!” doesn’t sound quite strong enough. In the end, Kholil, the only one of them who can write properly, writes: “Thirty Per Cent More Now!” on the banner instead.
 
Bangladesh: a Country in a Precarious Situation
Bangladesh, at 144,000 square kilometres in size, is not even half the size of Germany (357,000 square kilometres), yet has over 140 million inhabitants. Germany, by contrast, only has a population of 82 million people. Bangladesh is the most densely populated country on the planet, with around 1,000 people living in every square kilometre. Germany, by comparison, only has 232 inhabitants per square kilometre. In Bangladesh, 70 per cent of the population live off of the land. Because of the high population density, farmers must produce crops that give the best possible yields using the smallest possible amount of space. This is why Bangladeshi farmers don’t produce cotton, but do grow a lot of rice.
The tropical temperatures don’t last all year round in Bangladesh. For almost half the year nothing can be grown. In March, April and October, tropical hurricanes and storms batter the country, and June to September is monsoon season. High winds blow blankets of cloud across the country and there’s almost non-stop heavy rainfall. Most of Bangladesh is made up of marshland, intersected by three large rivers. During the monsoon, as much water as is contained in all the rivers in Europe flows through these three rivers. When the water is pushed back into the river delta by storms at sea, this causes major flooding.
At the moment, Bangladesh has no way to prevent this from happening, and every year, water floods the fields. Each year the flooding gets worse because of the rising sea levels caused by global warming. In 2004, the homes of 34 million Bangladeshis – almost a quarter of the population – were flooded. Richer countries can protect themselves with sea walls and high dams, but there are no protective measures available in Bangladesh. Even when funding is received in order to build dams, the government is so corrupt and badly run that the money is almost always spent elsewhere. By the year 2050, about a sixth of the country will be permanently underwater. Around 20 million people will loose their homes and livelihoods forever.
     
    24 August 2005
    It is now morning. Mohmin and Kholil don’t head towards the harbour for