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Published
Aug 31, 2016
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German court grants Pakistani victims legal aid against KiK

By
DPA
Published
Aug 31, 2016

Four Pakistanis have been granted legal aid by a German court in a case against German clothing discounter KiK.


Foto. dpa


The claimants have filed a lawsuit against the company at the Regional Court in Dortmund, asking for justice for the 260 dead and 32 injured at a fire at a clothing factory in Karachi, Pakistan.

The claimants, one survivor of the fire and three people who lost family members, are calling for compensation from Kik to the value of €30,000 per claimant. They claim KiK was partly responsible for the fire due to the ‘disastrous fire safety measures’.

Many Pakistani workers suffocated or burned to death because many windows at the Karachi building were barred and some emergency exits were blocked.

According to the German Institute for Human Rights, this is the first civil lawsuit of this kind in Germany.

“The German government must introduce enforceable due diligence obligations for German companies operating abroad. The National Action Plan on Business and Human Rights provides a chance to finally do so,” said Wolfgang Kaleck, General Secretary of the European Center for Constitutional and Human Rights.

“The pressure from the Global South is growing, more and more workers are organizing themselves and are ready to go to court to fight for fair working conditions,” added Thomas Seibert from Medico International.

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