The government will issue "Red Notices" through Interpol for businesspeople who fled abroad without paying workers' dues, Brig Gen (retd) M Sakhawat Hussain, adviser to the Ministry of Labour and Employment, said yesterday.

The mentality of looking after workers' well-being has not developed among businesspeople in Bangladesh, he told a mock parliamentary debate in Dhaka.

A "Red Notice" is a request to law enforcement worldwide to locate and provisionally arrest a person pending extradition, surrender, or similar legal action.

The debate was on the topic "the responsibility of trade unions is higher than business owners for the protection of workers' rights", organised by non-government organisation Debate for Democracy.

The government has been planning to pay arrears to affected workers by selling off homes, vehicles, and land of businesspeople concerned, Hussain said.

The interim government is always looking to serve the interests of workers, but focus is also required on the interests of factory owners. The government does not want to see a division between the owners and workers, he said.

The industrial sector's failures resulted from misgovernance by the previous government, which was ousted in August last year by a mass uprising, he added.

The factory owners concerned are also leaders of political parties and members of parliament (MPs) and were responsible for the misrule. Many of those ministers and MPs are either absconding or hiding without paying workers' dues, he added.

In the debate, a team from Tejgaon College was adjudged the winner against a team from Daffodil International University.

Hasan Ahmed Chowdhury Kiron, chairman of Debate for Democracy, chaired the event while AHM Shafiquzzman, secretary to the labour and employment ministry, attended as special guest.