US Senate hearing on Bangladesh again
Monday, 10 February 2014
US Senate hearing on Bangladesh again. The Senate Committee on Foreign Relations will focus on the country's current political situation. It will also discuss the condition of workers’ rights, especially in the ready-made garment sector. This will be the third hearing of the US Senate Committee on the ongoing political situation of Bangladesh. According to its website, committee chair Senator Robert Menendez will begin hearing at 10am (Washington DC time) on Tuesday. Nisha Desai Biswal, Assistant Secretary of State for South and Central Asian Affairs, will present her assessment at the hearing tiled ‘Prospects For Democratic Reconciliation And Workers' Rights In Bangladesh’. During her first visit to Bangladesh last November before the national elections, Biswal had urged the two warring parties, Awami League and BNP, to start a dialogue aimed at finding an acceptable way to hold inclusive elections. Eric Biel, Acting Associate Deputy Undersecretary at the US Department of Labour, will also present his case before the senate panel. Ellen Tauscher, Chairman of the Board of Directors, Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, Washington, DC, will speak at the second panel. Kalpona Akter, Executive Director, Bangladesh Centre for Worker Solidarity, is also scheduled to speak before the panel. The Senate Committee is going to discuss the condition of workers’ rights three months ahead of a hearing on whether the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) facilities for Bangladeshi products in the US market would be restored. The US government suspended the GSP status on June 27 last year, saying Bangladesh would get back the status if it fulfilled several conditions including improving work environment in factories. A hearing is set to take place on the matter in May. In December last year the senate committee had expressed deep concern over political deadlock in Bangladesh ahead of national elections in a resolution. On Jan 7, the committee adopted a resolution, stressing on the urgent need for dialogue among the political parties, according to a news agency.