Bangladeshis Bare Chests Over Lost Jobs
DHAKA, Bangladesh — Nearly 10,000 Bangladeshis who lost their jobs in Kuwait and Iraq because of the Gulf War staged a “bare-chest” demonstration in Dhaka on Thursday to demand their immediate re-employment abroad, witnesses said.
The protesters said fewer than a quarter of the 62,000 Bangladeshis affected had found new jobs in Kuwait, and none had found work in Iraq.
They blamed their plight on the Bangladesh government’s indifference.
All of those attending the rally outside Dhaka’s main government secretariat came stripped down to the waist, and many wrote their demands on their bare chests.
“We are exposing our chests so you can see our ribs. We are hungry and need immediate work to survive,” said Abdul Jalil, who worked in Kuwait for three years.
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