Embassy clarifies report on 'Death Railway' compensation

Harakahdaily,

Jan 7: The Japanese embassy in Kuala Lumpur has clarified a report by Harakahdaily quoting Bukit Gantang member of parliament Nizar Jamaluddin.

Nizar, who heads Jejak, a secretariat formed to investigate the claim that compensation paid by Tokyo to the Malaysian government for victims of the Death Railway project has yet to reach them, had last week met officials of the embassy to get more details.

In its report, Harakahdaily quoted Jejak as saying that the embassy's second secretary Takaharu Suegami confirmed money had been paid to the Malaysian government in the 1990s.

In a short email to Jejak clarifying the report, the embassy said it was not aware of any other compensation paid to Malaysia other than the 1967 agreement between Tokyo and Kuala Lumpur.

Under the deal signed in September 1967, the two governments agreed that Japan would pay "blood money" to the Malaysian government being settlement of the issue of compensation to those forced to work on the "Death Railway", an ambitious project by the Japanese imperial power to link Burma and Thailand with 400-kilometres of railway tracks.

The Japanese embassy also further clarified today that the undisclosed amount was transfered "around 1970's or 80's", but added that it had to check with its government on the list of victims as well as whether there has been any other compensation.

Nizar had earlier suggested that based on documents he had, Japan had paid some RM207 billion to the Malaysian government in 2004, while the money had yet to be distributed to family members of the estimated 30,000 Malaysians who worked as forced labourers for the project.