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13 years after Rana Plaza: An analysis from the point of view of two experts from Bangladesh
Adiba Afros and Sifat E Nur Khanam from Bangladesh shed light on the protracted consequences of the Rana Plaza collapse and criticize the lack of legal processing and outstanding compensation after thirteen years. The authors describe the progress made in the structural safety of export factories, but criticise the lack of judgments in the few criminal proceedings against those responsible, more comprehensive labour law reforms and an appropriate commemorative culture.
Original article first published on April 18, 2026 in The Daily Star
Rana Plaza, 13 years later:
No justice, no remembrance
Thirteen years after the collapse of the Rana Plaza building, any mention of the disaster is often treated as an inconvenience. Some argue that Bangladesh has come a long way since then, and that this is all we should talk about. It now has the highest number of LEED-certified ‘green’ factories in the world and there is no need for ‘negative press’ when so many other issues require attention.
There has definitely been remarkable progress in improving fire, electrical and structural safety within the RMG industry. However, the fact remains that after 13 years there has been little movement in terms of accountability – not a single court has yet delivered a final judgment. While humanitarian aid has been provided, no compensation has been paid for the most devastating catastrophe in the history of the global fashion industry.
This was an avoidable disaster. It happened because of the failure of various people and institutions. Their actions and omissions killed 1,136 people – workers such as Akhi Akhter and her friends – injured another 2,438 for life, leaving families, communities and rescue workers with ongoing trauma.
Beyond denying justice, Bangladesh continues to lack adequate laws to ensure reparation for victims of work-related accidents and deaths, including justified compensation for injured or survivors, long-term rehabilitation support for seriously injured survivors, a well-equipped industrial safety oversight system that goes beyond fire and building safety in export-oriented garment factories, and meaningful ways to commemorate and heal from this national tragedy.
Refused justice
Today, a total of 14 cases filed in connection with the Rana Plaza disaster remain in limbo. The Department of Factory and Works Inspections (DIFE) had filed 11 of these cases with the Labour Court against 14 people, including the owners of the building and the factories, for failing to report accidents and violations of the law with dangerous consequences. Among them, 11 of the defendants are fugitives, while three others have been acquitted.
There are three (03) criminal cases related to the 2013 Rana Plaza incident, all of which are still pending. Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (RAJUK) had filed a case under the Bangladesh Building Construction Act of 1952, which was transferred to the court of the Additional Chief Judicial Magistrate in Dhaka for trial.
Two cases were filed under the Penal Code of 1860 – one by the Sub-Inspector (SI) of the police, Mr. Wali Ashraf of the Savar Police Station, and another by Ms. Sheuly Akter, whose husband Jahangir Alam was among the deceased. Although indictments have been filed in the cases, they are currently pending and await the next hearing.
Under the last interim government, the conclusion of the long stalled proceedings was once again put more into focus. Deputy prosecutor Faisal Mahmud noted that gathering the testimony of 594 witnesses, many of whom live outside Dhaka, remains a key obstacle in an already complex process. The court has now taken a step by prioritising only essential witnesses in order to speed up the proceedings.
In addition to the 14 cases, five constitutional complaints are pending before the High Court Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh. This includes a petition by BLAST and Ain O Shalish Kendra (ASK) calling for an investigation into the causes of the collapse, action against those responsible and compensation for those affected.
Addressing the impact of the pending proceedings on the image of the industry, Sadaf Siddiqi, a longtime industry player and member of the BGMEA Standing Committee at the Ready-Made Garment Sustainability Council (RSC), acknowledged that "Bangladesh cannot fully recover from the Rana Plaza tragedy and move on unless we achieve some form of closure for those who have lost their loved ones. Those who have violated the law must be held accountable. The judicial system must ensure a fair and equitable closure of pending cases.’
The lengthy legal proceedings have raised the question among the families of the victims and the injured whether they will still experience justice in their lives. For some, like Nasima Begum, who survived Rana Plaza only to die later in the Daulatia bus crash, there was no break from disasters caused by negligence within a single lifetime.
Security only for export
Rana Plaza brought occupational safety to the compliance agenda of the global fashion industry. It led to national initiatives such as the Sustainability Compact, which aimed to strengthen labour legislation and increase DIFE's inspection capacity.
Significant international initiatives included the Accord on Fire and Building Safety, which has now been transferred to the Tripartite Ready-Made Garment Sustainability Council (RSC) in Bangladesh; This international model is now being replicated in countries such as Pakistan. The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety was another initiative that later evolved into the Nirapon Safety Management Programme.
While these tried-and-tested models of industrial safety oversight in Bangladesh have expanded to other countries, unfortunately within Bangladesh they remain limited to export-oriented garment factories, as noted by Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmmed, executive director of the Bangladesh Institute for Labour Studies (BILLS). It also highlighted persistent weaknesses in the permitting procedures for factory buildings and in the supervisory capacity of the local administration.
These concerns are shared by DIFE’s Joint Inspector General, Md Mahfuzur Rahman Bhuiyan, who pointed out that DIFE continues to be unable to verify that buildings are built to proper standards, as it is not included in RAJUK’s Construction Committee, as in the case of Rana Plaza.
The development of DIFE’s monitoring capacity has been slow, although some progress has been made. The agency now has 554 inspectors, and another 122 are expected to be added soon to monitor the 83,591 entities listed in the public register. It remains to be seen whether it can sufficiently cover the broad mandate of the Authority, which includes the monitoring of the safety standards of ‘all factories, shops, industrial and commercial facilities, tea plantations, inland waterway transport, road transport, etc.’ throughout the country, as well as the filing of lawsuits before the labour court, the investigation of workers’ complaints and the issue of licences.
If Bangladesh wants to create "10 million jobs in 18 months", the relevant institutions must urgently close these gaps in order to create safer jobs and ensure that the state can effectively enforce the law.
In addition, Syed Sultan Ahmmed stressed: "Sustainable occupational safety depends on more than just physical infrastructure. It requires the active participation of both owners and workers, supported by a robust system of rights and safeguards to ensure lasting improvement.”
The Unfinished Struggle for Compensation for Workers
Part of this broader protection system includes the controversial issue of compensation. Immediately after Rana Plaza, approximately 127 Crore BDTs (approximately $15.9 million) were donated to the Prime Minister's Relief Fund, 15% of which were disbursed directly and another 23 Crore BDTs (approximately $3 million) were distributed through the Rana Plaza Arrangement. The remaining 85 crore BDT (approximately $10.6 million) remain incomprehensible. A committee of inquiry led by the IG was set up to examine this, but its findings have not yet been published.
The Rana Plaza Arrangement was the largest single payment of funds to survivors and families of the deceased. Workers and their representatives campaigned to include international brands that donated a total of $30 million. Under the supervision of the ILO, the funds were disbursed to 5,109 beneficiaries, but as a one-off donation and not as legal compensation.
Taslima Akhter, President of Bangladesh Garments Sramik Samhati (BGWS), made the distinction clear: The arrangement was voluntary humanitarian aid, not based on an adequate compensation law and framework necessary to ensure adequate support and corporate accountability.
Such a framework is long overdue. Sections 150 and 151 of the Bangladesh Labour Act 2006 continue to set arbitrary ceilings of 200,000 BDT for deaths and 250,000 BDT for permanent disability, which are extremely low. There is an urgent need to reform these limits in line with international standards and High Court precedents, which emphasise the ‘loss of life income’ rather than arbitrary lump sums.
Demands for such a compensation framework remain unanswered despite repeated efforts by workers' organisations and platforms such as BGWS, the Sramik Nirapotta Forum, Sramik Karmachari Oikya Parishad (SKOP) and most recently the Labour Reform Commission under the IG.
The consequences of failing to learn from Rana Plaza continue to be felt in other industries. Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmmed found that the families of the 55 children who died in the fire at the Hashem food factory received only 200,000 BDT compensation. Without a national disability assessment system, many injured workers cannot continue to have access to rehabilitation, long-term treatment or psychological support across sectors. Integrating these benefits into a national policy framework is not a one-off aid measure, but a way back to dignity.
A notable initiative is the Employment Injury Scheme (EIS), which has been tested mainly in export-oriented RMG factories to provide social security coverage against work-related accidents and occupational diseases. The pilot project has shown that the model works and where it needs to be strengthened before it can be expanded.
Ensuring a mandatory national framework that covers all workers, not just those in export-oriented garment factories, requires policy decisions and budgetary commitments that the current government still needs to make. This could certainly help to realise their ambitions to build a ‘safe and humane’ Bangladesh.
Photo: © Md. Atiqur Rahman | BLAST
No tomb, no table, no monument
Court rulings, laws and compensation frameworks are of enormous importance and urgently need to be addressed. But they are not sufficient for what is needed in response to such a national tragedy.
The experience of Rana Plaza must also be preserved as part of the history of the people – to learn from the past and ensure that such a disaster never repeats itself.
It is also a way of honouring the courage and humanity of people from all walks of life – rickshaw drivers, students, rescue workers, trade unionists, NGOs, employers’ organisations and people from all over Bangladesh and beyond – who rushed to the place or contributed in various ways. These included young volunteer rescuers such as Nowshad Hasan Himu, whose extraordinary courage ultimately cost him his life.
Online archives such as ‘Outcries of a Thousand Souls’ by BGWS and ‘After Rana Plaza’ by Ismail Ferdous were crucial for preservation and remembrance. But the Rana Plaza site itself continues to be littered with garbage, where the remains of people like seventeen-year-old Shanta Akhter, whose body has never been recovered, have long since passed into the earth.
Syed Sultan Uddin Ahmmed considers that the burial of the Rana Plaza victims in the Jurain Cemetery instead of Savar was a ‘conscious attempt to erase their memory’, as the authorities ignored or failed to implement demands from the Sromik Nirapotta Forum and others for a memorial and plaque in one of the two locations.
Sadaf Siddiqi believes that the industry could play a role in "remembering and honoring the victims, the enormous potential that was in all those who lost their lives. Perhaps a striking monument that also symbolises the resilience of an industry that has changed Bangladesh, with the workers as its backbone.”
Setting aside differences to create a place of remembrance together could set a significant precedent. Instead of admitting weakness, it would be a sign that the industry has the maturity to acknowledge the past and the determination to build a fairer and more sustainable future.
In a few days, April 24 will mark another year without justice or accountability since Rana Plaza. Beyond the commemorative events on this one day, we hope that there will be justice for the survivors and families who have lost their loved ones, and a systemic change to ensure the protection of all workers, not only in the clothing industry, but across the country.
To the authors
Adiba Afros is a PhD student at the Research Centre for Human Rights in Erlangen-Nuremberg (CHREN) and an independent consultant. Sifat E Nur Khanam, legal expert at the Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (BLAST) and lawyer at the Supreme Court of Bangladesh, deals with labour rights, justice and legal framework conditions in her work.