ActionAid called on companies negotiating the compensation package to deliver a fair deal for the Rana Plaza collapse survivors and the families of the deceased.
The aid agency said this in a survey report on the state of compensation and suffering published on Wednesday.
Six months after the world’s worst garment factories disaster, victims are still awaiting compensation and suffering from debilitating physical and psychological injuries that have prevented the vast majority of them from returning to work, the report said.
ActionAid surveyed 2,297 people - nearly two thirds of the survivors and families of those who died in the eight-storey building collapse on April 24.
The study revealed that 94% of those surveyed reported they had not received any legal benefits from their employers since April, including sick pay or compensation. Of the survivors, 92% had not gone back to work. Of these, 63% said physical injuries such as amputations, paralysis, severe pain in the head, leg and body had stopped them from resuming work.
Ninety-two percent of survivors reported being deeply traumatised, while over half complained of insomnia and being unable to withstand loud noise. Some said they were scared to walk into a building or other closed spaces.
Farah Kabir, ActionAid’s country director in Bangladesh, said: “It is indefensible that for six months, multi-million dollar companies have left the victims to fend for themselves.”
She added that while the corporations held back from compensating the victims, the victims of the Rana Plaza disaster are in urgent need of medical and psychological support, as well as the financial means to feed and care for their families.