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UN Compensation Commission for Kuwait seeks to recover overpayments

UN Compensation Commission for Kuwait seeks to recover overpayments

The United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) that settles damage awards stemming from Iraq’s 1990 invasion and occupation of Kuwait today announced steps to recover inaccurate awards involving overpayments, approving a significant number of claims for correction.

The United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) that settles damage awards stemming from Iraq’s 1990 invasion and occupation of Kuwait today announced steps to recover inaccurate awards involving overpayments, approving a significant number of claims for correction.

“The Council decided that all affected Governments and submitting entities be required to undertake best efforts to recover the overpaid amounts and return them to the Commission,” UNCC’s Governing Council said in a statement at the end of its 61st session in Geneva.

“In addition, to the extent that the overpayments are not returned, the Commission will be taking additional measures to recover the overpayments from future payments to be made by the Commission to affected Governments with outstanding awards,” it added, without giving details of the amounts involved.

The overall amount of compensation made available to date by UNCC is about $21.4 billion. There are now 47 approved claims, with a total outstanding balance of some $31 billion.

The Council will hold its next regular session from 20 to 22 February 2007.

Money for the awards comes from the UN Compensation Fund, which received up to 30 per cent of the revenue generated by Iraqi oil exports under the now defunct UN Oil-for-Food programme that allowed the sanctions-bound regime of Saddam Hussein to sell oil for humanitarian supplies.