The Rana Plaza disaster and the complicit behavior of elite NGOs

"We do not know what NGOs do. Whoever works for NGOs, they are becoming rich. While NGOs receive money to help many victims, they distribute such fund only to two, three or five victims. Rest of the fund go to their pocket." Rahima Rahima is one of the victims of the Rana Plaza collapse that occurred on 24 April 2013 in Savar, Dhaka, Bangladesh, in which at least 1135 clothing workers died and an estimated 2500 were injured (Star Business Report, 2016). During this catastrophic collapse, the Rana Plaza housed five local garment factories that were producing clothes for 31 Western multinational corporations (MNCs; Clean Cloth Campaign (CCC), 2015). It was the deadliest structural failure in modern history, which was followed by a chaotic rescue operation due to a huge shortage of trained rescue workers and necessary equipment. This prolonged the victims’ suffering during and after the rescue process and led to enduring physical and psychological damage.