Barely able to speak Bangla, Farid found his family through memories of home
After decades away, a few childhood details were enough for aid workers to trace his family in Cox’s Bazar
19 August 2026
Prisons bursting at twice their capacities
Bangladesh’s 75 prisons are holding 98,233 inmates against a combined capacity of 45,186, more than double the designed limit, putting severe pressure on accommodation and healthcare.
19 August 2026
China-bound brides: Deceived, drugged and trafficked
A 19-year-old’s ordeal puts spotlight on cross-border brokers, alleged trafficking networks
18 August 2026
They drifted to their deaths over 11 days
9 Bangladeshis, one Sudanese confirmed dead after Greece-bound boat drifts in Mediterranean for 11 days
17 August 2026
Bangladesh-Saudi weekly flight entitlement rises to 84
Saudi Arabia has opened the high-demand Bangladesh-Saudi air route wider under a new bilateral deal, giving Bangladeshi airlines more room to expand. But how much of that opportunity they can use will depend on whether they have enough aircraft.
14 August 2026
Cheap adhesive addiction rising among women
It was around 5:00pm on July 22.
Seven to eight months pregnant, Parvin Akter, 20, sat near the Farmgate Metro Rail Station with three other women, lifting a polythene bag to her face every few seconds.
14 August 2026
Door closes for errant ex-owners to reclaim banks
Cabinet okays draft law allowing NHRC to issue interim orders
11 August 2026
A village in tears
Moyna Begum had no electricity at home when her son Mohan Pramanik was calling from Riyadh as a fire tore through the sofa factory where he worked.
11 August 2026
Biman flight from Toronto: 174 Bangladeshis stranded for over 33hrs in Rome
At least 174 Bangladeshi passport holders, including elderly people, women and children, had been stranded at Rome’s Fiumicino International Airport for nearly 33 hours since landing there at 7:20am (Rome time) on Friday, after a technical glitch grounded a Biman Bangladesh Airlines aircraft.
9 August 2026
Yaba, crystal meth become the new narco currency
The Daily Star explores the trafficking routes, the threats and the impacts of drug abuse. The second instalment looks at how drugs are used as a currency for illicit cross-border trade.
2 August 2026
They’re alive, please bring them home
For nearly 11 months, every unanswered question weighed on Md Syed Ali and his wife, Rekha Begum. Their son, Rimel Mia, 27, had travelled to Russia for work but later found himself caught up in the Russia-Ukraine war.
1 August 2026
Three Bangladeshis held as POWs in Ukraine recount journey into Russian military
In exclusive interviews to The Daily Star, the men describe how debt and failed migrant jobs took them to the frontline while their families remained unaware they were alive
31 July 2026
Cyber-scam trafficking the new menace
Online advertisements are luring Bangladeshi jobseekers into cyber-scam compounds in Southeast Asia, in what can be viewed as the newest face of a wider trafficking crisis.
30 July 2026
The narco trail of Bangladesh
A wide range of narcotics, from yaba to heroin, are being smuggled into Bangladesh through at least 105 border points across 18 districts
27 July 2026
17 senior cops may be sent into forced retirement
Seventeen senior police officials are likely to be sent into forced retirement over alleged allegiance to the Awami League, family ties to the party, roles in manipulating the 2014 and 2018 elections, repression of the opposition, and corruption.
22 July 2026
‘We have become living corpses’
Almost every afternoon, Reshma Karim keeps a plateful of food on the table for her 14-year-old son, as she waits for him to return from school.
21 July 2026
Milestone tragedy: Probe blames human error, unsafe building
Human error arising from inadequate training and supervision was the principal cause of the Milestone school plane crash, while an unsafe school building and failures in planning and emergency response worsened the consequences.
21 July 2026
Narcotics dept can work at borders, carry arms
The Department of Narcotics Control (DNC) can now conduct its own raids, searches, seizures, arrests and investigations along the country’s borders and at land ports, airports and seaports under the Narcotics Control (Amendment) Act, 2026.
19 July 2026
Cyber slavery: Bangladeshis forced into online scams in Cambodia
Trafficking victim Tofail Ahmed said he was sold to a heavily guarded cyber scam facility in Cambodia.
17 July 2026
How Bangladeshi jobseekers are trafficked into Cambodia's scam compounds
Hundreds of Bangladeshis have been rescued from Cambodia's infamous scam centres in recent weeks.
16 July 2026