Inside China Today

Melamine victims struggle to receive fair compensation

Many of the victims who fell ill to the melamine milk powder incident in China are still struggling to receive fair compensation and justice, nearly 10 months after the occurrence of the incident.

Four representatives of a victim rights protection group who call themselves “Stone Babies,” went to court in north China’s Shijiazhuang city to hand in their open letters on June 24th, however, they were treated harshly by authorities and were not even allowed to record the conversations.

One of the representatives, Mr. Zhao Lianhai, also told Radio Free Asia said that in their open letter, they requested the court hear the two already filed lawsuits as early as possible, and ask the regime to stop pressuring the two families who filed the lawsuit, “As we know, the court and local regime have exerted pressure on the two families, trying to force them to withdraw the cases,” said Zhao.

To this day, excluding the two already filed lawsuits, no court in China is willing to accept lawsuits from other victims. This is despite the total number of victims reaching 29,400—according to the official figure, while the real number could be much higher.

Victims of the melamine-contaminated milk powder also have problems collecting the medical expenses the regime agreed to in December 2008.

The regime promised to pay all medical expenses until the infants reached 18 years of age, and has entrusted the related matter to insurance companies such as China Life. However, the regime’s health department and the insurance companies have repeatedly dodged the issues when victims have brought up the matter.

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