Bangladesh inequality on the rise thanks to climate change, Covid, inflation: UN expert

Bangladesh must focus on reducing income inequality as climate change, high inflation and the persistent effects of the pandemic have sank millions into the ranks of the "new poor", according to a United Nations poverty expert.

Extreme poverty in Bangladesh was cut from 34 per cent in 2000 to 13 per cent in 2016, according to World Bank data.

But that progress does not show the complete picture of poverty in a country of nearly 170 million with the increased cost of living deepening inequality, said Olivier De Schutter, the UN special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights.

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De Schutter told This Week in Asia a category of "new poor" had emerged in Bangladesh, of households hovering just above the poverty line, possessing scant savings and at high risk of falling below it in the event of an unexpected job loss or medical bill.

"This is a result of very high inflation rates in the country ... the cost of living has also gone up by 8-9 per cent," he said. "This is set to disproportionately impact the poor, chipping away at low incomes and creating food insecurity and debt."

Inflation in Bangladesh was running at an estimated 9.2 per cent in April, with food inflation at 8.8 per cent, according to data from the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics. Additionally, the country's Gini coefficient, which measures income inequality, rose from 0.456 in 2010 to 0.482 in 2016.

Bangladesh is set to graduate from the UN's least developed country status in 2026, but the milestone may prove to be a double-edged sword, said De Schutter, following an official mission to the South Asian nation this month.

"In principle, it's a good thing, because it shows Bangladesh has made significant economic progress, but it will also force it to reinvent its model of development," he said. "Without this status, Bangladesh stands to lose certain trade preferences and preferential access to key markets in the EU, Canada, and the US, severely limiting its ability to export."

Bangladesh also remains dangerously dependent on its ready-made garment industry, which accounts for 82 per cent of its export revenues, the UN expert said.

The country needs to drive its domestic economy to "allow an increase in wages and strengthening of social protection to create this domestic demand", De Schutter said.

On climate change, De Schutter predicted a tough few years ahead, with predictions that extreme weather events such as droughts, cyclones and floods affecting the country will become more frequent and severe in the future.

"Already, many people in Bangladesh, especially those in poverty, have been displaced due to climate-related disasters in recent years," De Schutter said. According to UN figures from December, more than 10 million Bangladeshis were considered climate refugees, and one in seven people are expected to be displaced due to climate change by 2050.

In a wide-ranging report, De Schutter said that civic space had become increasingly restricted in Bangladesh, and a lack of accountability at the top would be detrimental for long-lasting progress in the fight against poverty.

"I was very struck by the climate of fear and intimidation that many human rights defenders, NGOs, and even academics and journalists are facing," he said.

"The government cannot deliver in the areas that matter to the reduction of poverty if there is no accountability, no transparency, and if you cannot denounce corruption or mismanagement of funds."

Last year, demonstrators took to the streets of the capital, Dhaka, to protest against power cuts and the rising cost of living and fuel.

But the protests were also underlined by years of public discontent brewing over alleged financial corruption and declining democratic freedoms during the rule of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who has led the country since 2009.

The UN special rapporteur found that the Digital Security Act (2018), in particular, had been used as a tool to suppress freedom of expression, especially online.

Observers say thousands have been charged under the law since it was enacted, including human rights defenders, journalists, students and opposition politicians.

In some cases, those detained have allegedly been harassed and tortured in custody. The death of prominent writer Mushtaq Ahmed in February 2021 detained under the same law was called a "custodial murder" by protesters.

The UN's mission also included a visit to vast camps home to nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees, a stateless Muslim minority persecuted in their home country of Myanmar.

They are unable to live and work freely outside the congested camps in Bangladesh, and languish in dire conditions.

"I think in all my years as a special rapporteur on extreme poverty and human rights, I have barely ever seen people in such a desperate situation," said De Schutter of his visit to refugee camps in the city of Cox's Bazar.

"They barely survive. They have no prospects, they have no perspective that their situation will improve," he said.

"Bangladesh has been extraordinarily generous in accepting almost 1 million refugees on its territory, but that was based on the expectation that it would be supported by the international community."

This article originally appeared on the South China Morning Post (SCMP).

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