Bangladesh port workers stage strike against deal with UAE firm

Dock workers and other stakeholders at Bangladesh's main seaport in Chattogram staged a hunger strike on Monday to protest against a government deal to lease a major container terminal to a UAE-based company.

The protesters gathered outside the port's One Stop Service Building at the call of the Chattogram Bandar Rokkha Sangram Parishad (Action Council for Port Protection) and staged the strike, according to witnesses. Bangladesh signed a 15-year concession agreement with DP World on October 8.

“We do not know what arguments the Government has considered. This is a non-disclosure agreement, and the Government has not explained how the proposed modernisation will be achieved,” the Action Council's coordinator, Ibrahim Khokon, told the protesters on Monday.