Tazreen Claims Administration Trust will oversee the claims to support victims and their families.
Dhaka, 18 November 2015
A multi-stakeholder trust has been created to formally address payments to the victims of the 2012 Tazreen Fashions fire on account of their losses. The garment factory blaze in Dhaka Bangladesh, claimed the lives of approximately 120 workers and left several hundred injured.
The Tazreen Claims Administration Trust (TCA Trust) developed out of an initial agreement signed in 2014 by C&A, C&A Foundation, IndustriALL Global Union and the Clean Clothes Campaign. This agreement, brokered by the International Labour Organisation (ILO), committed all parties to develop and implement a fair and transparent payment mechanism for the Tazreen fire victims and their families. The scheme would be based on the success of the Rana Plaza Claims Administration.
The Tazreen Coordination Committee, made up of representatives of the original signatories, agreed on the principles and details of the scheme and established the TCA Trust in September 2015. The aim of the TCA Trust is to receive and review claims, and make the payments of awards to victims and eligible family members of the deceased or missing. Furthermore, a Tazreen Steering Committee has been set up to advice the TCA Trust. It is comprised of Bangladeshi groups that work directly with impacted families.
“Thanks to the regular support of the ILO, the Government of Bangladesh, and the signatory organisations, we are happy to get the TCA Trust up and running. After all the hardship and trauma victims and their families have been through, they will finally be able to receive the payments they are due.”
– Executive Commissioner, Dr Mojtaba Kazazi.
This payment scheme will build on the payments already made by the Office of the Prime Minister of Bangladesh and BGMEA to the families of deceased and missing workers. Previous payments will be subtracted from the total final payments to be made under this scheme. This complements additional programs, such as an education trust for children of the victims, funded by C&A Foundation and Fung (1906) Foundation.
Payments will be disbursed through a dedicated fund, which is currently being financed by C&A Foundation, Fung (1906) Foundation and KiK. Any future donors will be listed on the website of the TCA Trust. Its administrative and running costs are being sponsored separately by C&A Foundation, so that 100% of the money in the fund goes to victims and their families.
Current status of TCA’s work
The TCA Trust’s claims process has been designed in a way that is consistent, transparent and fair. It is easily accessible by victims and their families. During the process, a reliable list of the deceased, missing and injured workers was prepared.
All the families and dependants of the confirmed deceased and missing workers have been contacted and provided with pre-counselling advice. The TCA Trust started receiving their claims as of 5 October, 2015.
As soon as claims review is complete, each claimant will be notified of the result of the review. Following this stage, payment of the awards will be made in full into the bank accounts that were opened for claimants in Dutch Bangla Bank Limited on the day of registration of their claims. It is expected that first payments to families of the deceased and missing workers will be made in January 2016.
For injured workers, the TCA Trust has just started contacting injured workers to provide them advice for filing their claims after which their claims will be received. Injured workers will undergo medical assessments by a team of multidisciplinary experts at the Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed (CRP) in Savar. Some of the medical assessments will be carried out in or around Dhaka, as necessary; otherwise transportation will be provided to claimants to the CRP in Savar.
The TCA Trust anticipates final disbursement by April 2016.
Notes to editors:
For further details on the Tazreen Claims Administration Trust please see the About section of this website and the following downloads
TCA Press release November 2015: A PDF version of this press release
Claim processing mechanism: A detailed description of the claims process
Support provided to Tazreen victims prior to TCA: A description of support provided to a number of Tazreen victims between the date of the fire and the opening of the claims process.