Tazreen survivor claims recompense blocked by bribery

While some workers who survived the Tazreen Fashions factory fire have received hefty compensations, others said they faced an uphill battle against corruption and bribery to get their dues. On November 22, the Dhaka Tribune met survivor Bilkis Begum of Rangpur, who worked as a machine operator for three and a half years on the fourth floor of the Tazreen Fashions factory in Ashulia, about 14 kilometres from Dhaka. She told the Dhaka Tribune she did not receive much compensation because she did not pay a bribe of Tk10,000 to a workers’ leader. Bilkis has suffered from problems with her eyesight, kidney and legs since the Tazreen tragedy. But she need not have been injured in the accident. She explained: “It was because of the production manager that some of us could not escape the fire. He ordered us to stay. He said there was no fire. After that someone locked the door.” Bilkis and seven others jumped out of the window to save their lives, sustaining severe injuries in the process. Six months ago, a man named Haider called her and told her she would get Tk1 lakh compensation from the Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA). “When I contacted him, he said he would call me later,” said Bilkis. Then, she said a man named Humayun, a local leader of the Garments Workers Federation, called her and said he would open a bank account for her to receive International Labour Organisation compensation money. Humayun told her that many victims had received compensation from the ILO but they needed an account to do so. But his assistance came at a hefty price. He demanded a Tk10,000 bribe to open the account. Bangladesh Garments Workers Federation Ashulia General Secretary Humayun Kabir denied allegations of corruption, when contacted by the Dhaka Tribune. But he admitted that some workers “willingly” gave him money out of their compensation payouts. He denied that they were bribes. He also admitted that some portion of the compensation money went to non-workers. Bilkis lives with her husband, a van driver, in a rented tin-shed house for Tk1,500 a month. The couple are sunk in Tk1 lakh of debt, racked up to pay to treat injuries Bilkis sustained in the factory fire four years ago. “I have so far received just Tk37,770. This includes my salary given by the BGMEA and some treatment fees,” Bilkis said. Her husband said: “I had some cattle in Rangpur but I had to sell them to pay for my wife’s treatment.” The Tazreen Fashions factory fire that broke out on November 24, 2012, left 112 people dead and over a thousand others injured.