Zero tolerance: Bangladesh

Government officials in Bangladesh denounced US sanctions but activists hailed them as a step forward for human rights in the country. The measures were implemented over rights abuses and extrajudicial killings.

Over 500 people were aboard the passenger ferry, which had a capacity of 310, when it caught fire in the south of Bangladesh. The blaze was put out after more than three hours, and rescue operations are still underway.

Bangladeshi police have arrested one of the four owners of a ferry involved in a massive fire in which at least 39 people died. Seven other people, including owners and captains of the vessel, are on the run.

International aid groups are once again drawing attention to the plight of Rohingya refugees relocated to the remote, flood-prone island of Bhasan Char in the Bay of Bengal. Earlier this month, dozens of people drowned as they tried to flee what some are calling a prison island.

More than 1,100 people were killed when the Rana Plaza textile factory collapsed in 2013. The tragedy drew attention to poor safety standards in Bangladesh's lucrative garment industry.

In Kenya, the African Medical and Research Foundation is fighting against female genital mutilation. Over four days, over 400 girls aged 8–15 undergo training sessions as per Maasai culture — paving an alternate way into womanhood.

In Bangladesh headlines are dominated by violence: Secular bloggers murdered by extremists, opponents of the government disappear, the Hindu minority is under attack. Why is Bangladesh finding it harder and harder to reconcile democracy and religion?

The ethnic minority Rohingya Muslims suffer severe persecution in Myanmar. Following a deadly crackdown by the Burmese army in 2017, some 740,000 Rohingya fled to neighbouring Bangladesh, where they were settled in the southern town of Cox’s Bazar. Five years on, the town is home to the world’s largest and most dangerous refugee camp, with frequent floods, fires and gang wars. In December 2020, the Bangladeshi government decided to relocate some of the Rohingya refugees to a remote island in the Bay of Bengal. Our reporters Alban Alvarez and Mathilde Cusin managed to gain access to it.

A massive fire that ripped through a container depot in Sitakunda in Bangladesh has killed at least 38 people. The cause of the blaze remains unclear.

Residents of a town in northeastern Bangladesh navigated through flooded streets on Monday as the country experiences what officials have called some of its worst monsoon floods in recent history. Monsoon rains in low-lying Bangladesh have triggered catastrophic flooding in Sylhet, leaving a quarter of its 15 million population stranded amid fast-rising waters and swollen rivers.

Excessive and erratic rainfall has caused devastating flooding, hitting parts of Bangladesh hard. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said there will be no quick respite for the country.

More than a million Rohingya refugees live in Bangladesh after having fled neighboring Myanmar.