50 Bangladesh, Burma and the Rohingya crisis been controversial and violent and the main BNP opposition party had boycotted it. Our evidence indicates that since then Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s government has been exerting increasing pressure on critics and opponents, directly, using intimidation, arbitrary arrests, vexatious proceedings and enforced disappearances and, indirectly, with repressive legislation and administrative rules; pressure on the judiciary and other authorities independent of government; and the politicisation of the police, courts and other public agencies. 118. DFID is similarly concerned; Minister Alistair Burt told us that: “There has been a shrinkage of the political space” in Bangladesh adding that the UK Government raised concerns—for example about draft legislation on digital security or challenges to journalists and others—with the Bangladeshi authorities in public and in private.151 Discussions during our recent visit to Bangladesh indicated that, while in recent history, extra-judicial disappearances have been mostly aimed at terrorist suspects, they are increasingly aimed at opposition parties. 119. There was a further narrative, presented in evidence, that polarisation between Awami League and the BNP supporters had percolated everywhere, including in civil society organisations, because, as Joe Devine, Bath University, told us: “survival depends on being properly aligned with X party or Y party”.152 This led to the further diminution of the space for the “public good”, and non-partisan debate, in Bangladesh. Mr Devine recommended DFID should focus on supporting the independence of the public policy ‘think tank’ sector, such as the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies, which were “very, very good” but also “under fire at the moment”. In Chittagong, Bangladesh we had visited part of an impressive DFID programme, co-funded with USAID153 and badged as ‘strengthening political participation’, which includes efforts to bring younger people from the different parties together to bridge exactly this divide. We heard, in particular, that this programme had benefited over 5,300 women who had since been appointed to grassroots party committees. Minister Burt welcomed the Committee’s interest and noted that, globally, political polarisation and confrontation was currently acute and that DFID was looking for opportunities to foster the recognition of the legitimacy of political differences, including in Bangladesh.154 Human rights 120. In general, human rights, while enshrined in Bangladeshi law, are reported to continue to be being abused widely. Bangladesh remains a Priority Country in this respect for the Foreign and Commonwealth Office. Credible reports from human rights organisations list: extra-judicial killings; arbitrary arrests followed by long detentions without charges; and enforced disappearances, allegedly at the hands of law enforcement officers. As mentioned above, victims of these activities have included opposition figures in recent times. The use of intimidation, ill-treatment and torture in custody remains rife. 121. We visited the Dhaka District and Metropolitan Courts and discussed the challenges of accessing justice in Bangladesh. One over-riding feature was the sheer quantity of cases with a backlog—or caseload depending on your point of view—of about three million 151 152 153 154 Q271 and see Annex 1 (FCO 2016 Human Rights report) Q118 The DFID element is currently £16.2 million between 2017 and 2021 Q275