Financial support still elusive for many Tazreen fire survivors

Monira Munni | Published: November 24, 2014 00:00:00 | Updated: November 30, 2026 06:01:00

Today is tragic November 24. On this day in 2012, one of the most devastating fire incidents in recent memory took place at Tazreen Fashions -- a garment factory -- at Ashulia on the outskirts of Dhaka city.
The blaze claimed 114 lives and injured 200 workers. Many of the Tazreen survivors, out of the 200, are still traumatized and yet to join any new workplace due to their physical conditions.
A total of 111 families of the dead workers got financial support of Tk 0.7 million each while three more workers who died later are yet to get the money, sources and right activists said.
Out of the 200 injured workers, some 90 workers got the financial support worth Tk 0.1 million each, they added.
Rokeya Begum, a sewing operator of the Tazreen, jumped out of the third floor of the factory building to save herself. She survived but has been suffering from chest pain, respiratory problems and vomiting for more than last one year.
She got primary treatment as no serious problem was identified then. But after a few months, various complexities developed. She cannot continue treatment due to lack of money, she added.
Survivors and their family members alleged that the government or the BGMEA provided primary treatment immediately after the incident but no one took the responsibility for long time treatment.
According to a recent report, published by Safety and Rights Society, some 3036 workers have died in workplace accidents in the last five years, from 2009-2014 while 247 died due to fire.
The report also showed that during the last ten months from January 1 to October 31, workplace accidents caused the deaths of 260 workers out of which 12 workers died from fire.
The rights activists alleged that the government is yet to formulate a legal framework of compensation about how the injuries will be determined and how the dead and injured will be compensated, a commitment made in the National Tripartite Plan of Action that was adopted immediately after the Tazreen fire incident, though the country witnessed one after another tragic industrial incidents.
When contacted, labour secretary Mikail Shipar admitted that the government failed to formulate the legal compensation framework within the initial deadline. He expressed the hope to prepare the same within the shortest possible time in line with the NTPA.
President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Md Atiqul Islam said, "We also want such structure. But the government has to adopt it."