The Real Cost of Fast Fashion
On the 20th September in the Tejgaon Begunbari region of Dhaka a huge fire claimed 5,000 people’s homes and all their possessions. This area was home to thousands of garment workers living in cramped, low-cost, 3 or 4 storey houses constructed from bamboo, wood and tin.
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I visited and met with people who lost their homes, it’s still not clear what the cause of the fire was and it’s a miracle that no one was injured. Garment workers came back from the factories to find their homes burnt to the ground. |
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People Tree, Global Village and War on Want have worked for years alongside the National Garment Workers Federation (NGWF) campaigning for a living wage to enable safer working and living conditions for garment workers. “Despite a pay rise last year, we’re still unable to meet our basic needs” I’m told again and again by those I interview. |
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Amin Amirul Haque, President of the NGWF helped me interview victims of the fire; NGWF continues to help support people providing them with food and temporary shelter, however the limited funds cannot cover the 4,000 garment workers who lost all their belongings except only the dress they went to work in. Even 5 days after the fire many people were sleeping on plastic sheeting close by to their old homes on the edge of a sea of debris. |
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