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The Rediff Special/George Iype

Kerala's Kuwait returnees still await compensation

Nearly 50,000 Indians are yet to receive promised compensation from the United Nations Compensation Committee nearly 10 years after they left their hard-earned money and belongings and fled a war-ravaged Kuwait, following Iraq's invasion.

The Gulf Returnees Association in Kerala is planning to send the UNCC a legal notice as it has refused to release payments to Indians.

"We have been waiting for compensation for 10 years. In fact, the UNCC has been promising us money all these years. Suddenly, it has refused to entertain our requests," GRA general secretary A M Abdul Nassar told rediff.com.

Stating that the UNCC has been discriminatory towards Indians, Nassar said a dozen people have committed suicides as they had no means of livelihood after they returned to India.

"It is a serious situation for many of us. We lost all our earnings and personal possessions in Kuwait following the Iraq invasion. As per an international agreement, the UN was to compensate all Kuwait returnees," Nassar added.

He said despite the GRA members' repeated requests, the Centre has been indifferent to their demand.

In the last few years, the UNCC has dispensed US $497.8 million among 17 governments across the world, for distribution to nearly 200,000 claimants who suffered huge losses during Iraq's invasion. Payments to the claimants are being funded partly by revenue from the Iraq-UN oil-for-food programme.

As per the UNCC payment programme to the Kuwait war victims, claimants have been categorised into groups A, B, C, D and E. For instance, for each individual claimant belonging to A and C categories, a payment of $100,000 is being made. Payments have been disbursed in instalments. The A and C categories comprise corporations, governments or individuals with claims of more than $ 100,000. Category B covers claims dealing with serious injury or deaths.

The Kuwait returnees claim that the UNCC has disbursed payments to only B category in India. "Huge individual claims worth several millions of rupees are yet to be processed and granted to us. We have been waiting very long," Abdul Shah, a businessman who left Kuwait told rediff.com.

He said the returnees have been pleading before the Special Kuwait Cell in New Delhi to take up the matter with the UN agency. "But the government has not moved a finger," Shah said.

He claimed that the UNCC has compensated only claimants from developed countries.

According to the special cell and the Kerala government's department for Non-Resident Keralites Affairs, only a few thousand Indians have received compensation from the UN body.

Government officials said Kerala was taking special interest in the case as most returnees were from the state.

In fact, for many GRA members who have been communicating with the UNCC directly and the central and state governments, there was little hope that they would receive the compensation till last year. Early this year, they received a letter from the UNCC, which stated that compensation packages for them were being readied. The letter requested them to open bank accounts, remitting Rs 1000 at any branch of the Union Bank of India, to avail of the compensation.

The returnees opened the accounts and waited. However, many recently received another letter which said no further communication from claimants would be entertained by the UNCC.

GRA officials said the association was discussing legal procedures with experts to fight against the UNCC.

The Rediff Specials

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