§ Mr. Laurence RobertsonTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence how many ex-servicemen who were detained by the Japanese have received ex-gratia payments under the terms of the 1951 San Francisco Peace Agreement; how many have not received ex-gratia payments; and if he will make a statement. [168051]
§ Mr. CaplinThe payment scheme under the 1951 Peace Treaty remains open, and claims in respect of eligible individuals who have not yet applied may still be made. Some 51,000 British Service personnel were detained by the Japanese during WW2. The payment records are held individually, and it would incur disproportionate cost to analyse them to provide the information requested.
As a result of the Ex Gratia Payment Scheme which this Government established in November 2000, 8,430 payments have been made to British Servicemen detained by the Japanese during the Second World War and 12,973 payments have been made to the widows or widowers of former servicemen or former civilian internees who qualify for the scheme.