KARACHI: A large number of families of workers who lost their lives in the Baldia factory fire incident 12 years ago stagedaprotestagainsttheInternational Labour Organisation (ILO), government institutions and the factory owners in front of the Karachi Press Club on Sunday.

The demonstration was organised by the Ali Enterprises Factory Fire Affectees Association (AEFFAA), in collaboration with the National TradeUnion Federation Pakistan (NTUF).

The protesters demanded that the ILO share with labour organisations and the victims` families the agreement it had signed with an insurance firm currently handling the compensation fund transferred by the German brand.

They warned that if the ILO failed to meet their demand, they would not only approach the judiciary for justice, but also hold a long march from Karachi to Islamabad and stage a sit-in at the ILO head office in Islamabad.

Speaking on the occasion, association`s chairperson Husna Khatoon expressed her deep sorrow, stating that after losing their loved ones, the victims` families had been struggling relentlessly for justice. Their lives had been filled with suffering, and even the gains achieved through their collective struggle with labour organisations had come at the cost of immense distress, she said.

She said that officials from the Sindh Employees Social Security Institute (SESSI) had been `continuously harass-ing widows and elderly parents`, while the Employees Old-Age Benefits Institution (EOBI) had stopped their pensions in violation of a Sindh High Court`s decision.

She said that the commissioner of the compensation`s court had ordered the factory owners to pay group insurance funds, but the owners had blatantly ignored the directives.

NTUF General Secretary Nasir Mansoor highlighted a critical issue faced by the victims. He stated that in 2016, following the collective efforts of labour organisations, a German brand transferred $5.1 million to the International Labour Organisation (ILO) as long-term compensation for the victims.

A democratic and consultative `Oversight Committee` was established to oversee the fund`s distribution, comprising representatives from labour groups, victims` families, the Sindh government, and the ILO, he said, adding that however, in 2022, without any con-sultation, that committee was dissolved, and the compensation funds were secretly handed over to a local insurance company, violating ILO`s own principles of transparency and consultation.

Mr Mansoor emphasised that victims and labour organisations had the right to know how much money the ILO had given to the insurance company, the terms of the agreement, and the reasons behind keeping the agreement confidential.

He further stated that for the past three years, victims and labour groups had been demanding a copy of the agreement from the ILO Pakistan office.

`While the ILO initially agreed to show the agreement, it later stated that some portions would remain undisclosed, which reflects its colonial mindset, lack of accountability, and disregard for transparency norms.

Speaking on the occasion, AEFFAA General Secretary Muhammad Siddig, who lost his young son in the country`s worst industrial disaster, stated that due to the lack of an effective mechanism to address compensation-related issues, widows and elderly parents were suffering immensely. Previously, the `Oversight Committee` played a crucialrolein addressingthose concerns, but its dissolution had left the victims without a proper chan-nelforredress,he said.

He demanded that a copy of the agreement be shared with all relevant local and international stakeholders. He assured that the personal and confidential information of the victims would be respected, as was the practice when the oversight committee was functional.

The protesters and their representatives urged the SESSI commissioner to stop his officials from har-assing parents and widows.

The protesters asked the EOBI chairman to reinstate pensions for parents as per the court order. `The factory owners must immediately pay the group insurance funds to victims` families as directed by the court,` they demanded.

Human Rights Commission of Pakistan chairman Asad Iqbal Butt, NTUF`s Rafiq Baloch, academic Dr Asghar Dashti and others also spoke.