School children near ship recycling yard in Dhaka.There are more than 35 shipyards in Old Dhakas Keraniganj area in the bank of the river Burigonga, where small ships, launches and steamers are built and repaired around the clock.About 15,000 people are working in extremely dangerous conditions earn Tk. 300-400 BDT (1 USD = 78 BDT) as they don't get safety gear from the dock owners and accidents are common.Most of the private shipyards use plate, engine, component and machinery of old merchant ship collected from many ship recycling industries located in Bangladesh. But frequent accident and heavy human causalities of inland vessels often raise question about the quality of ships produced in local shipyards.Bangladesh are now exporting small and medium-sized ships for the highly competitive European market. The vessels were built for countries including Denmark, Germany and Finland. Bangladesh shipbuilding is being compared with giants such as China, Japan and South Korea.
Shipyard workers pose for the camera in a year near the Buriganga River in Dhaka. There are more than 35 shipyards in Old Dhakas Keraniganj area in the bank of the river Burigonga, where small ships, launches and steamers are built and repaired around the clock.
About 15,000 people are working in extremely dangerous conditions as they don't get safety gear from the dock owners and accidents are common.
School children near ship recycling yard in Dhaka.
Most of the private shipyards use plate steel, engines, components and machinery from old merchant ships collected from many ship recycling industries located in Bangladesh.
A shipyard worker gets prepared to weld near the Buriganga River in Dhaka.
Frequent accidents and heavy human causalities on inland vessels often raise question about the quality of ships produced in local shipyards. Bangladesh are now exporting small and medium-sized ships for the highly competitive European market.
Two men are hard at work welding metal in a shipyard near the Buriganga River in Dhaka.
A boy plays near a ship recycling yard in Dhaka.
Most of the private shipyards use plate steel, engines, components and machinery from old merchant ships collected from many ship recycling industries located in Bangladesh.
School children near ship recycling yard in Dhaka.
17 year-old Ashraful has seen several of his colleagues fall victim to explosions, caused by ruptures in gas cylinders. He breaks down the rusty, old supertankers, cargo ships and cruisers to be scrapped. Most of them live by eating rice and vegetables. Ashraful cannot remember when he last ate meat.
A man is hard at work welding metal in a shipyard near the Buriganga River in Dhaka.
There are more than 35 shipyards in Old Dhakas Keraniganj area in the bank of the river Burigonga, where small ships, launches and steamers are built and repaired around the clock.
A boy stops to pose for a photo while playing near a ship recycling yard in Dhaka.
A boy playing near ship recycling yard in Dhaka.
Migrant workers in Lebanon have little protection under current labor laws, leaving them vulnerable to exploitation. Many of Lebanon’s estimated 200,000 domestic workers who come to the country for work often face extremely challenging living and working conditions. It is estimated that there are thousands more foreign workers in the country. The Human Rights Watch estimated that in 2008, an average of one domestic worker died in Lebanon per week. Most of these deaths are a result of suicides or attempts to escape their employers. Even when they manage to escape, once their contract is broken, they no longer have identification documents and can end up in an even more deplorable situation. The situation for these migrant workers as a whole is difficult. But despite the challenges and dire situations for a majority of migrant domestic workers, some of them have also done incredible things in Lebanon with their personal strength and the support of their network in the country. Each of these women have a story. And each story tells a piece of the collective experience of a female migrant worker in Lebanon. Masaret fights quietly for the rights of migrant workers, from helping people in her network trapped in a bad situation to the people in her building without food. Rahel Zegeye, who is a domestic worker by day and a filmmaker/artist by night, fights louder. Rahel Abebe, who started a catering service for Ethiopian food in Lebanon’s capital of Beirut, and was Lebanon's first migrant worker to have a lawsuit filed on her behalf against discrimination. These are the female migrant workers of Beirut. Photos by Osie Greenway Text and Captions by Melissa Tabeek
Rahel Zegeye has overcome many challenges in Lebanon in order to be where she is at today: a documentary filmmaker, a leading activist, a playwright and a source of help for her fellow migrant workers who have been mistreated. She is at work on her second film, which she has recently received funding for.