Bangladesh Garment Factory Victims Get $40 Million Compensation Fund

TIME Magazine | 24 Dec. 2013

 

Four global retailers Primark, El Corte Ingles, Loblaw and Bon Marche have pledged to contribute to a $40 million compensation fund for victims of Bangladesh’s Rana Plaza garment factory collapse in April, officials announced on Tuesday.

“An estimated $40 million will be required to compensate the victims and their beneficiaries,“ Lejo Sibbel from the International Labor Organization (ILO) told the AFP. “To finance the payments to victims, international brands and retailers are making voluntary contributions into the fund, which is also open to contributions from any other international donors,” said Sibbel.

The newly established fund was set up with the help of the ILO last month, following failed talks between owners of clothing brands and pressure groups in September, reports the AFP.

The Rana Plaza garment factory collapse killed 1,135 people, highlighting the dangerous conditions in which Bangladesh garment workers made clothes for mainly Western retailers.

Some families of the victims have already received short-term compensation from Anglo-Irish retailer Primark as well as the Bangladesh government. However a government official told AFP the government will not be contributing to this newly established fund yet, having paid out $2.25 million already to victims.