Addressing concerns over the restructuring of the airline being used as a means to delay legal proceedings, Julie Bishop urged the Malaysian government to ensure families of victims of the missing MH370 and downed MH17 get what is due to them in a “timely manner”.
“Malaysia should move to fulfil its duties under international law quickly. The government is aware that a number of families of Australian victims are seeking compensation from Malaysia Airlines.
“We welcome previous undertakings by Malaysia Airlines that it will compensate the families of all victims and would urge Malaysia Airlines to meet its obligations under the Montreal Convention in a timely manner,” she told The Australian.
There were a total of 44 Australians who lost their lives in the two tragedies. Six of them were intending to travel from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing on board flight MH370 in March 2014 and 28 Aussies were on their way home from Amsterdam, via Kuala Lumpur, on flight MH17, in July the same year.
MH370 is believed to have gone down in the Indian Ocean after having diverted from its original route on March 8, with 239 people on board, comprising 227 passengers and 12 crew members.
MH17, with 283 passengers and 15 crew members, was shot down by Russian-made missiles, believed to have been used by pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine’s Donetsk region, on July 17.
It was previously reported that Malaysia’s national carrier had made lump-sum payments of about A$50,000 (RM162,000) to the relatives of the Australian victims of Malaysia.
The families are also pursuing legal action against the airline in more than a dozen legal battles in various Australian federal and supreme courts, according to the daily.
Airlines are bound by the Montreal Convention, an agreement in 1999, to fast-track compensation to families of air disaster victims, with relatives of passengers who died being entitled to about A$200,000, or more, if the airline’s negligence was proven as contributing to the disaster.
The restructuring of MAS in late 2014 by the Malaysian government which owns the airline, had raised some concern among the relatives of victims of both disasters. They reportedly alleged that the move was to hinder legal action taken against the original entity, which has ceased to exist.
This was part of the argument in documents filed this year in a United States court on behalf of dozens of victims of MH370 against the airline and its insurer, Allianz.
The suit accused MAS of attempting to “dodge” its legal obligations to those who died and their relatives, The Australian reported.
“This sleight of hand by the Malaysian government after hundreds of people on two Malaysian flights are killed in as many months, was clearly a blatant, illegal dodge of its responsibility to the dead, missing, grieving and bereaved,” Mary Schiavo, who represents 98 victims and their relatives, wrote in a submission to a court in Washington,DC.
Meanwhile, Malaysia Airlines Systems (Administrator Appointed) denied the change from Malaysia Airlines System, or MAS, to Malaysia Airlines Berhad, or MAB, would delay payments to relatives.
“MAS has been committed to ensure all next of kin are fully compensated and to date it has not evaded its obligations to pay compensation in accordance with the principles set out under the applicable international conventions and local laws,” she was quoted as saying by The Australian.
“The objective of the restructuring has never been to frustrate the legal process or avoid its responsibilities, as it has been inaccurately portrayed.”
The governments of Malaysia, Australia and China are set to meet soon to decide if the Australian Transport Safety Board’s recommendation to extend the search for MH370 should expand to a 25,000 square kilometre area north of the current 120,000 sq km area.