Bangladeshis swarm over Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's palace in Dhaka. Bangladeshi Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's 15-year rule ended on August 5, 2024 as she fled after more than a month of deadly protests as the military announced it would form an interim government.

Walking through chest-high floodwaters, hundreds of people rush to safety, holding their belongings high above their heads to keep them dry. Nearly half a million people have been forced to seek refuge in schools and temporary shelters in Bangladesh following some of the worst flooding in the country's history. The floods have affected more than 5.8 million people and left at least 71 dead, including men, women and children. Feni district in south-eastern Bangladesh, it is clear why it has been described as the epicenter of one of the country's worst floods in living memory. Bangladesh lives on its rivers and waterways, and its people depend on this vital source of life for fishing and rice cultivation. The country is also no stranger to floods and cyclones, especially in recent years, as scientists say man-made climate change is exacerbating extreme weather events. But this flood took them by surprise, and people here blame the Indian authorities. On the Indian border, just a few miles from Feni, people accused India of releasing water from the Dumbur dam in the neighboring state of Tripura without warning. They opened the sluice gate, but no information was given beforehand. India denied that the dam release was deliberate and said excessive rainfall was a factor. But it admitted that a power cut and communication breakdown meant it failed to give the usual warning to downstream neighbors. In a matter of hours, the only way in or out of the flood zone will be by boat, all main roads will be completely cut off to vehicles, and rescue efforts will be slowed by the lack of electricity and near total communications blackout in the city. The army and navy have been mobilized to coordinate relief efforts. In the space of a day, a nationwide volunteer effort has sprung up, with people from Dhaka and other parts of the country arriving to help with rescue and relief efforts. Some are also returning to their hometowns to search for family members.

"It’s painful; walking for three consecutive day without food and water but its more heart wrenching when I think of my home, my belongings leaving behind."- Gulping a mug of water, an old Rohingya woman fled from Myanmar, was stating out her agony after reaching Lomba bill-Teknaf-Bangladesh. She is not the only one fled from there. Tens of thousands of Rohingya people had and still have making their way to Bangladesh because of the brutal situation in Myanmar. “Rohingya” The word itself is a taboo in Myanmar. The country leaders also do not use and some asked the international community not to use it. Buddhist leaders instead refer to Rohingya as “Bengali” to root out as immigrants and foreigners from Bangladesh. They are not included among the 135 ethnic minorities officially recognized by the state. Many reports on Rohingya persecution and marginalization begin with Myanmar’s 1982 citizenship law, which stripped the country’s 1 million Rohingya of citizenship, leaving them without access to health care or education. Waves of violence soon followed. The military calls the campaign a clearance operation against an insurgent terrorist military group. They claim the crackdown is in response to a series of armed attacks on border police by Rohingya militants on August 25 that left 12 officers dead, the second such type of attacks in the past 12 months. Following the incident, Myanmar authorities have reportedly cracked down on the Rohingya community, which the United Nations believes may amount to ethnic cleansing of the Muslim minority group. Observers say that though armed Rohingya insurgents exist, their overall numbers are small, and they are poorly equipped. And the crackdown has affected the entire ethnic group. In what, it has quickly disintegrated into a humanitarian disaster of historic proportions, a staggering 5lacs Rohingya Muslims have fled from Myanmar’s northern Rakhine state to Bangladesh over the weeks. At least 3.4lacs of them are children. Hearing really dreadful stories of people from enormous number of very young, and very traumatized Rohingya refugees who have survived somehow. Among those fleeing Myanmar, are many pregnant women who have been walking for three, four, or even five days to find safety. Many bringing stories of systematic rape, murder and arson at the hands of Myanmar soldiers. Entire villages have been burnt to the ground. Rohingya refugees report that soldiers shot at them as they fled. The Rohingya, a Muslim minority, do not qualify for Myanmar citizenship even though many have lived there for generations. The army insists they are interlopers from across the border in Bangladesh. But Rohingyas are saying they have lived there for generations after generations and they never ever were in Bangladesh. They surely are not the people from No Man's Land. Then who are they? What is their existence?

A Garo community living in the village of Panihata in the Sherpur district of northern Bangladesh, bordering the hills of Meghalaya in India, faces an ongoing struggle for survival. These villagers depend on subsistence farming, with rice as their main crop. "For the past six months, we have not been able to sleep because of the 'thieves'. They come at night and steal our food," says Mimita, wife of the Garo village chief. During the two annual rice-growing seasons, the villagers' livelihoods - and their lives - are under constant threat from a herd of 40 to 50 wild Asian elephants. Forced by the increasing destruction of their natural habitat, the elephants cross the border from India into Bangladesh in search of food, often at night. They trample rice fields, damage trees, destroy homes, and sometimes fatally clash with villagers. To protect their crops, villagers light fires, use powerful torches, beat drums, and even set up electric fences to keep the elephants away. Despite their best efforts, the toll is devastating: lives are lost on both sides, and months of hard agricultural work can be in vain at any moment. Elephants, native to these lands for thousands of years, are now critically endangered. Only about 300 wild Asian elephants remain in Bangladesh, trapped between shrinking forests and expanding human settlements. Their migration routes between Bangladesh, India and Myanmar are being disrupted by deforestation and unplanned development. These natural corridors are vital to the elephants' survival, but they are rapidly disappearing. The resulting human-elephant conflicts have taken a heavy toll. Over 50 elephants have died in the last five years, with 34 deaths recorded in 2021 alone. Most of these deaths are caused by live electric wires that farmers have installed as a desperate measure to protect their fields. Restoring and protecting elephants' natural habitats and ancient migration corridors is critical to their survival. It is a task that requires unity across borders and thoughtful, sustainable planning. Only such efforts can ensure that people and elephants continue to share the landscape they have called home for centuries and that both live in harmony.

"This building will stand a hundred years," owner boasted just a day before the collapse. The next morning, it came down."Aha re," the people shook their heads and asked sympathetically So sad."Shoitaner shoitan," they cursed the owner of the building. The devil's devil. The number of dead bodies crossed thousand so fast. Thousands of mourners have gathered at the ruins of a garment factory building (Rana Plaza at Savar) to offer prayers for the souls of the 1,134 people who died in the structure's collapse 24th April, the worst tragedy in the history of the global garment industry. It came months after a fire at another garment factory in Bangladesh in November killed 112 workers. These two are mentionable, the time before also a couple of accidents happened and many lost their close ones in those tragedies. Savar tragedy is a symbol of our failure as a nation. The crack in Rana Plaza that caused the collapse of the building has only shown us that if we don't face up to the cracks in our state systems, that we as a nation will get lost in the debris of the collapse. Bangladesh’s government also agreed to allow garment workers to form unions without permission from factory owners. That decision came a day after it announced a plan to raise the minimum wage in the industry. Many Western companies that have activities in Bangladesh have engaged in significant public relations campaigns to minimize the fallout from revelations about their worker's inhumane conditions. Dozens of consumers in the US spoke out against unsafe working conditions found in the factory building. People also unleashed their anger at retailers that did not have any connections to that specific building, but are known to source from factories located in Bangladesh. Cheap labors, the number of laborers are blessings for our garment sector. But this blessing turned into a curse when all those innocent workers have to sacrifice their lives under poor labors law, unhealthy security system, negligence of their owner. Moreover, the government itself. The "Made in Bangladesh" tag has now changed in meaning. It costs blood to tag a price on those products made by our workers. It is high time authority took any revolutionary step for the sake of the neglected garment workers. Thousands of garment workers had died. The last breath of those souls surrounds us. Did we learn anything at all from these terrible massacres? Or will we have completed our duty by merely expressing our deep sympathy?

In Bangladesh, fires are a constant threat and often end tragically for those affected. Crying family members in front of burning factory buildings, anxiously waiting to know more about the fate of their loved ones, has become a common sight. Urban slums going up in flames are news seen far too often. Tens of thousands of people fall victim to these fires every year, losing their homes, all their belongings, and all too often their lives, their parents, their children, and their siblings. The number of fire incidents in Bangladesh has tripled over the past two decades. The main reasons include rapid and unplanned urbanization, population density and unsafe house construction, and the increasing use of technology without the necessary knowledge of its usage. Beyond that, for decades fires have been the number one cause of loss of life in the country’s factories. In 2020, the country recorded 383 industrial fires out of which 273 occurred in garment factories. The regular outbreaks of factory fires reveal the often-inadequate fire safety measures and poor working conditions for workers. They also shed light on the lack of monitoring and law enforcement by responsible authorities. Who suffer most are the factory workers and their families. In the rarest of cases, they have a choice or an alternative to secure their livelihoods. Besides performing hard work in an environment that involves great risk, their low income oftentimes does not allow them to live in safe homes either. It is the sad truth that economically disadvantaged people face countless risks every day and little support in guarding their lives. And far too often, their lives, their hopes, and their dreams dissolve into ashes.

Approximately the lives of 19.4 million Bangladeshi children are affected in different ways already by consequences of short- or longer-term climate change. A changing climate is already now undermining their lives and diminishing their prospects for a better future. Twenty of Bangladesh’s 64 Districts are exposed to the highest risk from unpredictable forces of climate change-related disasters that strike with frightening frequency. Millions of Bangladeshi live in coastal areas. Countless families and their children fall victim to flash floods, powerful cyclones, and many others lose their roots by the river erosion. Their farmland remains infertile, or farming communities suffer increasing periods of drought. Many families end up as migrants. Many families who have nothing but some plastic bags with a few belongings search for a better life escape to Dhaka. At the highest risk are children from families whose lives are already shaped by poverty and inequality. These families are rarely able to provide their children with necessities like protection, nutritious food, clean water, and primary education. Millions of children become adrift in city slums, with compromised health and destroyed educational prospects. Their families are forced to send their children to work, and so millions of children find themselves trapped in exploitive work – all due to the inescapable impact of climate change. “Angles with broken wings” gives voice to an estimated 3.45 million Bangladeshi children who lost their childhood. Child labor in the bustling shipyards became, for example, their sharp reality. Their families have no choice. The whole family is under pressure to find income to cover their rent and all other costs. Almost 30 bustling shipyards occupy parts of Old Dhaka's Keraniganj riverfront, where a little number of ships are built. But many launches and steamers of various sizes and shapes are repaired round the clock. About 10,000 workers, who work in these dockyards, earn not more than 1 USD per day. In the frequently sound of hammering echoes, laborers scrape rust and layers of old paint from the hulls of battered cargo ships hauled up on the dockside. It’s a constant work with flame and dust. Without goggles, they are risking serious injury or blindness, they all climb tall rope ladders to the ships' highest points to retrieve items, risking death if they slip. Too many Bangladeshi children work without any protective equipment - without helmets, without any gloves, but often barefooted and with their little hands. Instead of having a carefree childhood with unforgettable joyful moments, they are daily facing many physical hazards. Climate change is undoubtedly increasing the number of children who are forced to work. They lost all their rights to be a child and became the “Angles with broken wings” our planet hell. Bangladesh has been ranked as one of the "world's worst countries for workers" in terms of workers' rights.

27 September 2020 A woman draws drinking water from a cloth set out to catch rainwater, in the village of Kalabogi, in the Sundarbans mangrove forest, Bay of Bengal, Bangladesh. People living in Kalabogi and the Sundarbans region suffer from a water shortage in the dry season as a result of increasing salinity in the groundwater, and of the river Satkhira, caused by rising sea levels. Houses in villages like Kalabogi are raised on poles to avoid frequent tidal flooding. A 2016 World Bank report states that the climate crisis poses a number of threats to the Sundarbans, including rising sea levels and the frequency and intensity of storms. Satellites have found the sea advancing by 200 meters a year in parts of the region. Academic studies indicate an estimated 20 million people living along the Bangladesh coast are affected by salinity in drinking water. More than half of the coastal areas are impacted by salinity, which reduces soil productivity and vegetation growth, degrading the environment and impacting people’s lives and livelihoods. Rice paddies and cultivable land are converted to shrimp farms, which further contribute to groundwater salinity and soil degradation.