In the ship breaking yards of Chittagong, in the south of Bangladesh, the old ships are dismantled and their iron sold as new. This dangerous, backbreaking work is done by Bangladeshi laborers from the north, toiling to earn a pittance so small that most of it is spent on simply finding food to eat.

They swear never to return, but the drought and starvation at home drives them back; back to the muddy yards and the pain from the scalding heat of the iron – to inescapable exploitation.