Safety in Dhaka

For a number of years the 'Goodmorning Bed & Breakfast', located in Bonani, has been a safe haven for visitors from many different countries. The guesthouse was suppose to be a training facility for young underprivilegde youth in Dhaka, and run by the Vialisa Foundation. However due to sickness of the founder of the foundation, the guesthouse had to close it's doors. An honest attempt to keep the guesthouse alive on a different location, with a legal status and a different management, turned out to be an idealistic, but impossible task.

So I decided to use this website for all you people who are planning to visit Bangladesh and can use some real life information about this city. I hope you find it usefull and if you do, please share and spread the word! We thank the people who have supported us and trusted us to be their host during their stay in crazy Dhaka.

Safety in Dhaka

From my own experience I would say the areas where most foreigners live and work, Gulshan 1 & 2, Bonani and Baridhara are pretty safe. However I did hear about some violent crimes happening to people around me.

I only lived in Dhaka for a year, but I feel that from my experience I can give you the following advise:

Friday & Saturday
Crimes like purse snatching & armed robbery are common in Bangladesh. Especially on a Friday and Saturday, since these crimes involve cars, three-wheels and on Friday and Saturday there will be almost no traffic jams, so a bigger chance for thieves to get away. If you are visiting Dhaka, realize that, how strange it may seem, Friday and Saturday there is an increased chance for you to be a victim of purse snatching or robbery.

Politics | Hartals
The political situation in Bangladesh is very unstable. Demonstrations and large gatherings can happen spontaneously. Make sure to stay away from these kind of large crowds. Even gatherings that start friendly, can turn violent very fast. Sometimes a nationwide strike (called 'Hartal') is announced. This means that all shops and offices should or will be closed. Shop keepers who don't close their shops take the risk that their shops will be under attack by demonstrators.

I must say that generally the Gulshan 1, 2, Niketon, Baridara and Bonani area are not much disturbed by violence during Hartals, but other areas in Dhaka are. So if there is a Hartal, it's better to delay your planned trip to Old Dhaka!

Police involvement
Personally I had good experiences with the police in Dhaka. When one of my guests had a safety issue, the police responded in a very decent and helpful way. In another situation I found myself walking home around 01:00 PM, because I could not find a rickshaw and a police patrol car demanded that I get in, so they could take me home safely. But....

There are also reports of foreigners who had other experiences with the police and many embassies advice their citizens not to get involved with the police and never to go to a police station without an escort.

Rickshaws’
Many people will use a rickshaw to get themselves from A to B. Normally this will not be a safety issue, but there are some useful tips I would like to leave behind:

Try not to use a rickshaw when it's dark, especially if you're a lady.
Best not to take a purse or bag, but if you need to, don’t' carry your purse around your arm, but put it down between your feet. Please, just hold it with your hand. There are many known cases where people were dragged for meters because their purse was somehow attached to their arm or leg.
If possible try to make use of a rickshaw that is moving on the road, not a rickshaw that is waiting for customers. They may just be waiting, but it may also be that they are targeting you for a mugging or robbery. There are known cases where rickshaw drivers were involved in muggings and robberies.

Chittagong Hill Tracts
This is a nice place outside Dhaka, worth visiting, but my advice is: If you don't need to be there, don't go there. There is a high risk of politically motivated violence and kidnapping.

Where is the guesthouse?