Non-payment of reparations by government

In 1988, the USA government agreed to pay $120 million a year for 10 years in reparations to Americans of Japanese descent who were interned during World War II. President Reagan then requested from Congress $20 million for the payments, one sixth of the amount promised. The House of Representatives doubled the figure, still only one third of the amount promised. In 1989, the Senate appropriated nothing for that year but created an entitlement beginning in fiscal 1991, so the money would be paid automatically. In 1990 Austria agreed to pay $25 million in reparations to Jewish survivors of the Holocaust. In Argentina in 1992, although 6,500 were detained between 1976 and 1983, only those detained under special emergency powers and those convicted by military courts are eligible for compensation. In 1993 the Japanese government refused requests to compensate 12,000 British survivors of Japanese labour camps during World War II for work which benefited corporations such as Mitsubishi and Nissan. In contrast German companies, such as Mercedes Benz, which relied on forced labour during that period have set aside funds to compensate prisoners and their dependents.