Garment and textile mills in Bangladesh have temporarily ceased operations due to ongoing protests, which have forced the country’s Prime Minister, Sheikh Hasina, to resign and flee the country.  

On Sunday (4 August) it was reported “at least five” garment, textile and plastic factories had been set on fire in the Ashulia and Sreepur areas during the violence.  

Bangladesh is the world’s second-largest garment exporter, after China and the European Union, according to the World Trade Organisation, exporting US$38.4bn worth of clothes in 2023. Zirani, Ashulia, Savar and Baipail are dense industrial areas for the garment and textile industries. The country is a critical supplier to some of the largest fashion companies worldwide, including H&M group, Inditex and Walmart.  

Curfews and communication blackouts imposed as part of a crackdown on dissenters have added to the economic and geopolitical pressures already weighing on the local garment manufacturing sector.  

Background to the violence 

Hasina ruled the nation for more than 15 years but had recently faced growing calls to resign after unrest began in late June, when students began to protest calling to end a quota system that reserved a large number of government jobs for the families of war heroes from the country’s war of independence with Pakistan in 1971.