7 May 1991
F C Oppen, Esq
Apartment 1826
200 Clearview Avenue Ottawa
Ontario K12 8M2
CANADA
HKB 02012.
Foreign & Commonwealth
Office
14
London SWIA 2AH
Telephone: 071-
Dear Mr Opper,
Thank you for your letter to this Department of 20 March 1991 about compensation for former Japanese Prisoners of War.
You ask about compensation from the Japanese Government. This question was settled in the 1951 Treaty of Peace with Japan, following which the Allied Powers accepted that the Japanese had fully discharged their obligations.
However, a small sum is still held in reserve by the Department of Social Security, North Fylde, Central Office, Norcross, Blackpool, FY5 3TA, to meet possible future claims. A further sum is held in a trust fund administered by the Far East (Prisoners of War and Internees) Fund,30, Copsewood Way, Beastead, Maidstone, Kent, ME15 8PL. This gives financial help to former Far Eastern Prisoners of War, civilian internees and their dependent relatives in particular need. You may wish to write to one or both of the above.
You ask about current efforts to obtain compensation from the Japanese. HM Government is aware that claims against Japan for compensation have been made by Allied ex-Servicemen, to the United Nations Human Rights Commission. The Commission has a procedure for dealing with such matters under the terms of the Economic and Social Council Resolution 1503, of 19 June 1970. HM Government cannot comment on the details of this claim because the Commission's deliberations are confidential. However, it is only fair to point out here that its criteria include the requirement that "communications be submitted within a reasonable time after the exhaustion of domestic remedies". It is difficult to say therefore whether
SIMABJ/CVL
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