KU suicide attack: Bereaved Chinese families to get same compensation package as Dasu project affectees

ISLAMABAD: The government has decided to extend same compensation package to the families of three Chinese teachers killed and one injured in Karachi as already approved for Dasu hydropower projects victims, official sources told Business Recorder.

According to Ministry of Interior an unfortunate incident of suicide attack occurred at Confucius Institute Karachi University on April 26, 2022, in which three Chinese nationals lost their lives and one Chinese national was injured.

In order to mitigate the Chinese concerns and to convey a gesture of goodwill, a compensation package needs to be announced for the families of the Chinese victims of the terrorist attack. In this regard, the Prime Minister had constituted a committee under the chairmanship of Minister for Interior to work out a compensation package.

A meeting of the inter-ministerial committee was held on June 1, 2022 under the chairmanship of Minister for Interior to work out a mechanism for compensation for the affected Chinese nationals.

It was noted that a formula had been devised to compensate the families of the Chinese victims of Dasu attack and an Inter-Ministerial Committee had been constituted under the Secretary Ministry of Water Resources to work out the formula for compensation. Four different formulas were analyzed for calculating the amount of compensation in which the amount of compensation paid to the Chinese victims of the terrorist attack at Gomal Zam Dam Project was used as a baseline and it was indexed upward using factor GDP per capita PPP. At that time, the Government of Pakistan had approved a compensation package amounting to $100,000 for the family of the deceased and $ 50,000 for the injured.

Accordingly, it was decided that the same formula, as used for calculation of compensation package for the victims of the Dasu attack may be applied in the case of victims of Karachi University attack.

Ministry of Interior requested the ECC of the Cabinet that an amount equal to $ 1.505 million may be approved as compensation for Chinese victims of terrorist attack at Confucius Institute, Karachi University on 26 April, 2022, and provided as a Supplementary Grant, as this Ministry does not have budgetary provision for the purpose.

The ECC, in its meeting held on July 25, 2022 approved the proposal of payment and directed the Ministry of Interior to meet the expenditure from its own funds/ sources.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2022