132 Gulf War victims receive compensation
 

by Rajmi Manatunga

Sri Lankan citizens who were not compensated for damages suffered in the 1991 Gulf war received compensation yesterday from the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC).

A spokesman for the Sri Lanka Foriegn Employment Bureau (SLFEB) told the Daily News that 132 residents of the North East who did not receive compensation earlier owing to hostilities in the North East were awarded compensation yesterday.

"People in the war-affected areas who lost their jobs or suffered damage to their property due to the Iraq-Kuwait war could not apply for the islandwide compensation program. The war situation also made it difficult for us to identify such persons," he said.

Following the ceasefire, applications were called from residents of the war-affected areas who were affected by the Gulf war. "We received around 10,000 applications. But only 388 of them were eligible for compensation. The UNCC recommended the compensation of 132 of them at a cost of Rs 41.5 million," he said.

The spokesman said that around Rs 400,000 was granted to each victim under the program. Labour and Foriegn Employment Minister Athauda Seneviratne handed over the compensation to the victims.