UNITED NATIONS COMPENSATION COMMISSION PAYS OUT $361 MILLION
Press Release
IK/291
UNITED NATIONS COMPENSATION COMMISSION PAYS OUT $361 MILLION
20000321(Delayed in transmission.)
GENEVA, 17 March (UN Information Service) -- The United Nations Compensation Commission has today made available, in a fourth round of payments in the second phase, a total of $361,826,215.70 to 60 governments and nine offices of three international organizations for distribution to 74,442 successful claimants.
This amount includes $80,038,500 for 43,451 claims in the sixth instalment of category "A" (claims of individuals for departure from Kuwait or Iraq), and $281,787,715.70 for 30,991 claims in the sixth instalment of category "C" (claims of individuals for damages up to $100,000).
The first phase of payments involved an initial payment of $2,500 to each successful individual claimant in categories "A" and "C", as well as payment of the full amount to all successful claimants in category "B" (claims for death or serious personal injury). As of 17 March 2000, a total amount of $3,252,337,997.09 was made available to 1,498,119 successful individual claimants in categories "A", "B" and "C" under the first phase of payments.
In respect of the second phase of payments, the UNCC Governing Council in decision 73 determined that priority of payment will continue to be provided to individual claimants in categories "A" and "C", while also providing meaningful compensation to claimants in categories "D", "E" and "F". The Governing Council decided that transfers shall be made to approved claims in all categories when there are funds in the Compensation Fund sufficient to make a payment of $25,000 (or the unpaid principal amount of the award, if less) in respect of each approved claim. Once that amount has been paid on all awards of claims in categories "A" and "C" and all approved claims in categories "D", "E" and "F", the amount for further payments on all claims shall increase to $75,000 (or the unpaid principal amount of the award, if less). The second phase of payment commenced on 23 September 1999. With the present payment, a total of $2,665,789,477.52 was made available to 746,394 claimants in categories "A", "C", "D", "E" and "F" under the second phase of payments.
Funds to pay the awards of compensation are drawn from the United Nations Compensation Fund which receives 30 per cent of the revenue generated from the export of Iraqi petroleum and petroleum products. Presently, funds are made available to the Compensation Fund from the proceeds of the "oil-for-food" mechanism established by Security Council resolution 986 (1995) and subsequent resolutions.
The present payment brings the overall amount of compensation made available to date by the United Nations Compensation Commission to $5,918,127,474.61.
Further information about the Commission can be found on the UNCC Web site located at http://www.uncc.ch.
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