JMBF urges Bangladesh to end mass arrests of children and adolescents, conduct independent investigations and protect their rights.
Paris, France | 26 October 2026: JusticeMakers Bangladesh in France (JMBF) today published its monitoring report on Mass Arrests and Detentions of Children and Adolescents in Bangladesh over One Month, documenting the arrests and detentions of 2,774 children and adolescents across 12 incidents and operation series in four divisions and eight districts between 23 September and 22 October 2026.Published from JMBF’s headquarters in Paris, the report draws on monitoring of national, regional and local print and online news outlets, alongside information received through JMBF’s own reliable sources. Wherever possible, information was cross-checked against multiple publications and JMBF’s source network.
JMBF expresses grave concern about the scale of these operations and the use of police custody to control the ordinary movement, public gatherings or school attendance of children and adolescents. Detaining children and adolescents without a lawful, individual and necessary basis violates their right to liberty, even when they are subsequently released to guardians.
“Children and adolescents must not be taken into police custody simply because they gather in public places, miss classes or are presumed to be potential offenders,” said Advocate Shahanur Islam, Founder President of JMBF.
He further added, “Police must establish an individual legal basis for each arrest and demonstrate why detention is necessary. Releasing children and adolescents later their guardians’ undertakings does not erase an earlier violation of their rights.”
Kumilla accounts for the largest district total, with 2,035 children and adolescents arrested or detained. Chattogram division accounts for 2,418 of the overall totals, followed by Sylhet with 300, Rajshahi with 50 and Barishal with six.
The monthly figures comprise 2,173 children and adolescents arrested or detained in September (23–30) and 601 in October through 22 October. These figures reflect the incidents identified through JMBF’s monitoring and do not constitute a complete national total. JMBF considers the documented figure an undercount because some incidents remain unreported or do not reach its monitoring network.
JMBF documents 1,720 releases on written guardian undertakings, 194 other releases to guardians, 833 jail custody dispositions and 27 transfers to Tongi Child Development Centre. These categories describe reported outcomes rather than the number currently detained.
The report highlights the detention of 16 school-going children and adolescents in Shahrasti, Chandpur, during class hours, followed by their release to guardians. It also examines mass operations in Kumilla, Sylhet, Natore and Noakhali and questions whether authorities adequately considered alternatives before depriving children and adolescents of liberty.
JMBF stresses that Bangladesh’s constitutional protections of personal liberty and the safeguards under the Children Act 2013 apply throughout police operations involving children and adolescents. The Convention on the Rights of the Child requires detention to be lawful, non-arbitrary and used only as a last resort for the shortest appropriate period. Allegations of gang involvement do not remove these protections or establish guilt.
JMBF urges the authorities to end the mass arrest and detention of children and adolescents; review the legal basis and necessity of every detention involving children and adolescents; release those held without lawful grounds; prioritise diversion and appropriate alternatives; ensure access to lawyers, family contact and probation support; and independently investigate allegations of arbitrary detention. Children and adolescents subjected to unlawful detention must have access to effective remedies and compensation where legally due.
The report excludes cases explicitly linked to political activities, which JMBF addresses separately. However, JMBF remains concerned that the actual or perceived political affiliation of children and adolescents, including their family associations, may have been an undisclosed factor in some arrests. That concern requires independent investigation.
In Solidarity,
Mst. Jannatul Ferdous
Assistant Secretary General
JusticeMakers Bangladesh in France (JMBF)
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