UNICEF expresses shock over rising crime against children in Bangladesh

Dhaka, Feb 13: The United Nations International Children’s Emergency Fund (UNICEF) has expressed shock and concern at the fact-finding report submitted by the Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCR) on the tragic events that took place in Bangladesh in the run-up to the so-called ‘Anti-Discrimination Student Movement’ that eventually resulted in the fall of Sheikh Hasina government in August, last year.
The report estimated that as many as 1400 people may have been killed between July 1 and August 15, 2024 with more than 100 of them being children.
“We mourn every one of them,” said UNICEF Representative to Bangladesh Rana Flowers in a UNICEF statement issued in response to the OHCHR report.
The UN agency stressed that all policymakers in Bangladesh, political actors, and officials need to work urgently on a number of aspects to help the children, young people, and families of Bangladesh to recover and move forward. Calling for a “meaningful reform”, UNICEF urged that it should be ensured that no child, family and community in Bangladesh has to go through such tragedies again.
Experts reckon that the situation only worsened in Bangladesh after Hasina left the country and Chief Advisor Muhammad Yunus assumed office as the head of the interim government.
Several countries, including India, have expressed major concerns about the surge in extremist rhetoric, increasing incidents of violence, and provocations, especially against the Hindu community, in Bangladesh.
In November 2024, four members of a Hindu family were murdered, that included two children and a pregnant woman.
Thousands of people, including children, continue to suffer due to the vandalism and mob violence that took place across Bangladesh after Hasina’s departure.
The schools were shut down for a long time, denying children their basic right to education even as the country faces a serious political and humanitarian crisis. (IANS)