German parliamentary team arrives today

A German delegation will arrive in Dhaka today (Saturday) to assess factory safety and workers’ rights in Bangladesh, a year after the collapse of a nine-storey building that housed five garment factories when the disaster struck it at Savar. The German embassy in Dhaka said the seven-member delegation will be led by Dagmar Woehrl, the Chair of German Parliamentary Committee on Economic Cooperation and Development. The delegation will meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed and other political leaders. During their stay, they would assess the initiatives taken so far to improve the health and safety standards for the Bangladeshi workers. They will travel to Savar in the outskirts of the city to visit survivors of the Rana Plaza collapse at the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP), which received German funds to rehabilitate them. They will also visit a couple of RMG factories at Savar Upazila to get an impression of the working conditions of Bangladeshi workers, according to a news agency.