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24 Jul 2015

Japan / China: Mitsubishi Material agrees to compensate Chinese Forced Labourers

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Mitsubishi Materials has reached an agreement with groups of Chinese who were subject to forced labour during World War 2. The company has recognized that over 3700 Chinese were subject to forced labour in the company and its contractors, and that "this human rights violation is a historical fact". Besides issuing an apology, the company will create a fund of RMB 100,000 (approximately USD 20,000) per victim, and will pay approximately USD 2m to search for missing survivors. Should the missing survivors be found, the total settlement is expected to come to approximately USD 80m.

One group of survivors has announced it will not accept the settlement and will continue the purse the matter in Chinese court. Mitsubishi Materials has declined to comment. An anonymous Japanese government spokesman is cited as having called the settlement a "risk" for the government, which maintains the position that individuals' rights to compensation were annulled by the postwar settlement. The Japanese Supreme Court has ruled in favour of the government.

[English summary of Japanese articles, by Business & Human Rights Resource Centre]