Tamanna and others are hopes of Assasuni

There is no hope for Assasuni. That is what almost-despondent climate experts say. Assasuni is one of the most vulnerable coastal areas in Satkhira. Under the pressure of climate change, Pratapnagar Union of Assasuni, with its 23 villages, is gradually disappearing. Talking to children and teenagers in Assasuni, I realised that disappearing does not mean sinking into the river. It means the people living there are moving elsewhere.

Tamanna Sultana lives in Howladar Para, one of the 23 villages. Nobody can say how long people will be able to stay there. The neighbouring villages of Harishkhali, Kurikahunia, Sreepur, Bontola and Dighalarait are gradually becoming deserted. The men from these villages are moving to Khulna, Barishal, Dhaka, Chattogram and Narayanganj in search of work. The women are going to Jashore.

Why are the women going to Jashore? At this question, Tamanna, Shakib, Suchana and Halim exchange glances among themselves. Someone from behind says, “There is plenty of oil there.” Tamanna says the women go away but return, while men are less likely to return once they leave.

While other children and teenagers talk about problems such as the shortage of safe drinking water, difficulties travelling to school, scabies, diarrhoea, child marriage and child labour, Tamanna identifies the migration of family breadwinners to distant places in search of livelihoods as the biggest problem. She feels that people leaving their homes is the main problem. When adults leave, children become vulnerable. Protecting children from wicked people is more difficult than protecting them from tigers. When adults leave, child trafficking increases.

Children from Satkhira, Khulna and Bagerhat gathered in Khulna to discuss preparations for the upcoming climate conference. That was where I met Tamanna and the others.

Tamanna is the leader of the 'Babui Pakhi' (weaver bird) community children's group in Howladar Para. They have formed groups of children and teenagers at the neighbourhood and village levels. The purpose of the conference in Khulna was to assess how climate change is affecting their lives and what initiatives they have taken locally to address its impacts. Representatives of children from Khulna will also attend the climate conference to be held in Anatolia, Türkiye.

Tamanna studies at United Academy, a secondary school in the Pratapnagar area. The number of students at her school is declining day by day. Of the 62 candidates who sat for the 2026 Secondary School Certificate (SSC) examination, only 26 passed. Three or four years ago, so many students did not fail. In 2023, no one failed. In 2025, 15 students failed.

The number of students is declining. Around 14 per cent of students dropped out in 2021–2022. One possible reason could be the COVID-19 pandemic. More boys than girls dropped out. The boys leave for brick kilns in the bengali month of Kartik (October–November), and they do not sit for the annual examinations. When they return in the month of Baishakh (April–May) after finishing work, schools do not readmit them.

There are no government statistics on how many children from coastal districts work in brick kilns or drop out of school. However, a 2024 study by the International Labour Organization (ILO) on health risks of child labour in Bangladesh's brick kilns, found that before joining work at brick kilns, around 80 per cent of children in urban areas and 84 per cent in rural areas regularly attended school.

During the brick kiln season, reserved buses travel from different upazilas of Satkhira to at least 10 districts to transport workers. Agents of brick kiln owners give families advance payments and take children away to work.

A few years ago, when I visited the Cumilla region, I spoke with Abbas, a 12- or 13-year-old brick kiln worker. His father had left in search of work and never returned, leaving his mother in great difficulty with three children.

Abbas told me, “My mother was struggling a lot to pay for my education. There is not much work in the village now. During the monsoon, my mother borrowed Tk 7,000 from the sardar (labour contractor) to run the family. I will work here to repay that money.”

I also spoke with another child working at a brick kiln. A brick kiln owner had given his family an advance payment and taken him to work. He told me, “If I run away from here, they will go to my house and bring me back. Otherwise, they will collect the money from my mother.”

On 17 November 2020, Prothom Alo published a report about Zahidul, a child from Satkhira. His father had speech and mental disabilities. Even begging could not provide enough to support the family. So Zahidul left his village home in Satkhira for Cumilla to work at a brick kiln. Unable to bear the hardship of the work, he wanted to return home. But the labour contractor and brick kiln owner refused to let him go. Eventually, his body returned home. It was said that he had died in an accident.

Girls do not go to work in brick kilns, but why are they dropping out of school? According to the teenage girls, when their fathers and uncles leave for distant places in search of work, the girls are married off. These child marriages are the main reason for their dropping out of school.

Some girls want to return to school after marriage, but schools no longer admit them. The reason given is that if these girls return, other girls will not be able to continue their education. This has now become an unwritten custom across the country. Married boys, however, face no barriers to continuing their education at school.

The teenager girls of Pratapnagar said their area needs:

1. Safe water facilities in every neighbourhood, including rainwater harvesting, and desalinated water.

2. Elevated, waterlogging-resistant schools and toilets.

3. Safe spaces for children's mental health and sports activities.

4. Malnutrition screening and nutritional support.

5. Embankment maintenance and child-friendly disaster preparedness.

I asked what child-friendly disaster preparedness meant. One teenage girl took a picture of a bridge out of her bag and showed it to me. “We built this,” she said. This is what child-friendly disaster preparedness means.

At one time, Howladar Para had road connections with the surrounding areas. Children, teenagers, women and men all used a road to go to school and the market. But as the riverbank gradually eroded, the road was destroyed, and the area turned into a canal.

Local people built a bamboo bridge. However, it became unstable after some time. While crossing it, several children fell into the water along with their books and notebooks.

The children and teenagers went together to the Union Parishad. The Union Parishad had never before witnessed such organised action by children. Under pressure from the children, a floating bridge was eventually built. Around 140 students now have a safe route to school. Adults have also benefited from it.

Teenager Tamanna said, “Since we have been able to build a bridge, we will be able to do the other things too. Instead of calling us a teen gang, call us the strength of teenagers. Stand beside us if you can.”

*Gawher Nayeem Wahra is a child rights activist.