The main factor driving modern slavery within the tea industry in Bangladesh is the extreme marginalisation of tea garden workers, who are mostly descendants of migrants from India, by wider society. Social and economic exclusion mean workers have no alternative to working under highly exploitative conditions in the tea industry. The review found considerable literature on the working conditions of tea workers, but little on the wider context of their position in society, attention to the plight of tea workers in policy-making, or the macro-economic and political pressures to sustain modern slavery in Bangladesh’s tea gardens.
Funding
Default funder
History
Publisher
Institute of Development Studies
Citation
Idris, I. (2018) Modern Slavery Within the tea Industry in Bangladesh. K4D Helpdesk Report. Brighton, UK: Institute of Development Studies.