Chance: Labour Slavery and Mine Facilities

chance: The lawsuit, filed in November 2014, alleges that Nevsun engaged Eritrean state-run contractors and the Eritrean military to build the mine facilities, and that the military used forced labour — slavery — to complete the job.A big victory for the plaintiffs"From the plaintiffs' perspective, it is a big victory," said Fiorante in an interview. "For us, this is a green light to proceed with the case on the merits, and this will give our clients the chance to pursue the allegations in court and a chance to vindicate their rights."None of the allegations has been proven in court, and Nevsun did not immediately respond to a request for comment, according to National Observer. Earlier in the day, the company issued a statement saying it studying the decision and is considering filing an appeal."The judgment makes no findings with respect to the plaintiffs' allegations, including whether any of them were in fact at the Bisha Mine," the statement reads. Joe Fiorante, one of the lawyers representing the group, said this is the first time foreign claimants have been able to file a lawsuit in Canada against a Canadian company over allegations of human rights abuses that took place abroad. The Vancouver-based company said it is confident that its subsidiary operates the mine according to international standards of governance, workplace conditions, health, safety and human rights. Fiorante called that element of the ruling "surmountable," adding that his legal team plans on filing dozens more claims from other former mine employees. The judgment dismissed the workers' application to have their allegations heard as a single case, and instructed them instead to file three separate claims. (www.immigrantscanada.com). As reported in the news.