The deserted factories of Gazipur: A journey among the victims of the textile crisis
Since August 2024, over 300 companies have closed in a heavily industrialised area of Bangladesh, leaving tens of thousands of people out of work. ‘My wife and I used to earn a good salary. Now I drive a rickshaw and we've cut back on meals.’ Many have returned to their villages, but the depopulation also affects traders and homeowners. Entrepreneur: ‘The empty warehouses I saw in Italy are now in our country.’
Dhaka (AsiaNews) - Mohammad Rafiq Mia, 30, once had a stable life. He worked as an operator at Lez Fashion, a garment factory in Gazipur. His wife also worked in the same factory. With two incomes, the family was able to get by well. Everything changed when the factory closed. ‘Now I drive a rickshaw,’ Rafiq tells AsiaNews. ‘My wife has not yet found a job. We are in financial difficulty. I used to eat three meals a day. Now I eat two.’
Rafiq's home village is in Dinajpur, in northern Bangladesh. His two children live there with their mother and attend school. He is constantly worried. ‘I came to the city to improve my lot, but now I am unemployed. I don't know how I will be able to educate my children. I may have to return to the village. But there is no work there for half the year.’
Rafiq's story is similar to that of thousands of other people in Bangladesh, which is preparing to go to the polls on 12 February. According to industrial police sources, since August 2024, as many as 327 factories have closed permanently or temporarily in Gazipur, Savar and Ashulia. These closures have occurred over a period of about a year and a half, following changes in the political and economic environment.
In Gazipur alone, 188 factories had closed by 21 January, with 115,379 workers losing their jobs. Of these, more than 90,000 remained unemployed due to permanent closures. In Savar and Ashulia, 139 factories closed during the same period. Approximately 40,000 workers are now out of work. Sixty-seven factories have closed permanently, while 72 have temporarily suspended operations.
Among the closed factories are well-known names. In Gazipur, there are 13 units of the Beximco group, Dard Composite in Sripur, Season Dresses in Tongi, Polycon Limited in Konabari, Textile Fashion, Classic Fashion, La-Muni Apparels and Lease Fashion of the NASA group, among others. Local sources say that nearly 90% of the workers affected are now unemployed. Many have changed jobs. Some drive rickshaws. Others work as day labourers. Some, residents say, have turned to crime out of desperation.
The impact goes far beyond the factory gates. With the closure of the factories, workers have begun to leave the industrial areas and return to their home villages. Rental rooms have been left empty.
Small businesses lost customers. Grocery shops, tea stalls and markets saw sales plummet. Shahid Rahman, a landlord in the Kashimpur area of Gazipur, said rents were the backbone of the local economy. ‘About 28,000 Beximco workers and employees lived here with their families,’ he explained.
Markets and shops depended on them. When the factories closed, most of the workers returned to their villages.‘
Many landlords built houses to rent using bank loans. ’Now they are empty,‘ Rahman added. ’We cannot repay the loans. We are facing serious losses."
Industrial Police Superintendent Amjad Hossain confirmed the scale of the crisis, which shows no sign of abating. He cited several causes, including the global energy crisis, difficulties in the banking sector, political instability, lack of orders, cancellation of export contracts, labour tensions, vandalism and rising operating costs. ‘The combination of these factors is forcing factories to close,’ he said. ‘This is creating mass unemployment and affecting the entire local economy.’
In Savar-Ashulia, the situation is equally bleak. ‘I used to sell goods worth 10 or 15 thousand taka a day,’ said Shafiqur Rahman, owner of a grocery store in Burir Bazar.
‘Now sales have dropped to 3,000 or 4,000. The workers are gone.’
Trade unions are warning of the social consequences. Khairul Mamun Mintu, legal secretary of the Bangladesh Garments and Sweaters Workers Trade Union Centre, said hunger is pushing workers to the brink. ‘When people can't find work, some end up on the streets just to feed their families,’ he said.
Abdul Hakim, a property owner in Jamgarh, Ashulia, expresses the same concern. ‘I had almost 100 rooms rented to garment workers,’ he said. ‘They had never been empty before. Now most of the rooms are vacant because the nearby factories have closed.’
A Catholic entrepreneur in the garment industry, who asked to remain anonymous, told AsiaNews that the scene reminds him of abandoned industrial areas in Europe. ‘I travel to Italy almost every year,’ he explains. ‘I have seen empty warehouses from Bari to Lombardy. Now I see the same thing in Gazipur and Savar. I wonder: what was Bangladesh and what do I see now?’
Bangladesh is the world's second largest exporter of clothing after China. The sector drives the national economy and supplies major brands in Europe and North America. But as factories shut down, the price is paid by workers like Rafiq. One job lost, one meal skipped and one uncertain future at a time.
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