UN panel pays out $650 million in reparations for Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait

The United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC), which settles the damage claims of those who suffered losses due to Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait, today made $650 million available to nine successful claimants.

The UNCC’s Governing Council has identified six categories of claims: four are for individuals’ claims, one for corporations and one for governments and international organizations, which also includes claims for environmental damage.

The latest round of payments brings the total amount of compensation disbursed by the Commission to more than $30 billion, according to a press release issued by the Geneva-based body.

Established in 1991 as a subsidiary organ of the Council, the Commission has received nearly three million claims, including from close to 100 governments for themselves, their nationals or their corporations.

The majority of funds for compensation payments have come from the sale of Iraqi petroleum under the so-called Oil-for-Food programme, which came to an end in 2003, and later within the scope of arrangements made under Security Council resolutions.