Refugee Compensation:
Selected Cases and
Source Materials

1. Case Summaries

1.1 ARMENIAN/AZERBAIJAN AND RUSSIA
1.2 BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA
1.3 BULGARIA-ROMANIA
1.4 CHECHNYA
1.5 CYPRUS
1.6 CZECHOSLOVAKIA-GERMANY
1.7 CZECHOSLOVAKIA-HUNGARY
1.8 CZECHOSLOVAKIA-SOVIET UNION
1.9 GREECE-BULGARIA
1.10 GREECE-TURKEY
1.11 INDIA-PAKISTAN
1.12 IRAN-UNITED STATES (CLAIMS TRIBUNAL)
1.13 IRAQ-KUWAIT (UNITED NATIONS COMPENSATION COMMISSION)
1.14 KARELIAN (FINNISH) TRANSFER
1.15 POLAND-SOVIET UNION
1.16 TURKEY-BULGARIA
1.17 TURKEY-ROMANIA
1.18 UGANDA
1.19 WEST GERMANY AND AUSTRIA-JEWS, JEWISH ORGANIZATIONS AND THE STATE OF ISRAEL

2. Bibliography

2.1 COMPENSATION AND RESTITUTION IN CASES OF POPULATION TRANSFERS, MASS EXPULSION AND BOTH INTRA-STATE AND INTER-STATE CONFLICT

2.1.1 GENERAL/LEGAL/THEORETICAL
2.1.2 COMPARATIVE
2.1.3 CASES
2.1.3.1 Bosnia
2.1.3.2 Cyprus
2.1.3.3 Czechoslovakia-Hungary
2.1.3.4 Greece -Bulgarian
2.1.3.5 Greece-Turkey
2.1.3.6 Guatemala
2.1.3.7 India-Pakistan
2.1.3.8 Iran-United States
2.1.3.9 Iraq-Kuwait
2.1.3.10 Mozambique
2.1.3.11 Palestinian
2.1.3.12 Polish-Soviet
2.1.3.13 Turkey-Bulgaria
2.1.3.14 Uganda
2.1.3.15 Uruguay

2.2 COMPENSATION AND RESTITUTION IN CASES OF EXPROPRIATION AND NATIONALIZATION

2.2.1 GENERAL/LEGAL/THEORETICAL
2.2.2 COMPARATIVE
2.2.3 CASES
2.2.3.1 Cuba
2.2.3.2 Czech Republic
2.2.3.3 Germany (Post-Unified)
2.2.3.4 Hungary
2.2.3.5 Native Land Claims
2.2.3.6 South Africa

2.3 WAR CLAIMS, REPARATIONS, AND POST-WAR RESTITUTION

2.4 MECHANISMS: GENERAL AND COMPARATIVE

Notes

Introduction

This paper examines past cases of compensation and restitution. Included are two components. The first is a summary of cases where compensation and/or property restitution was attempted for refugees, transferees, or expellees. These summaries seek to interpret these cases and incorporate available material potentially relevant to the Palestinian case. In particular, these summaries attempt to answer the following questions: what were eligibility criteria for compensation or property restitution claimants? For what kinds of losses were claimants eligible for compensation (e.g. non-material or material losses such as movable and immovable property)? Through what mechanism was compensation or property restitution determined? What was the form of compensation? What was the source of compensation (who paid)? How much was the amount of compensation or, how much property was restored? For how many claimants? To the extent possible, this summary attempts to address not only compensation but also restitution of property and return of refugees.

Although attempting to provide an overview of past cases of compensation, due to various constraints, certain cases are not included. This summary does not include a discussion of various expropriation cases,⁽¹⁾ Former Soviet Union/Eastern Europe property restitution and compensation claims, and native land claims. In addition, due to the complexity and multifaceted nature of WWII reparations and restitution, only particularly relevant sample cases are briefly discussed herein.⁽²⁾

The second component of the paper is a comprehensive, yet non-exhaustive, bibliography of sources which can fruitfully be consulted in examining the Palestinian case. This bibliography includes not only those materials about the summarized cases but also materials on expropriation, native land claims, and war claims/reparations. The bibliography is selectively annotated. In annotating the selected sources, this paper outlines the features of the work, summarizes the arguments and highlights the contribution of the source to an examination of the Palestinian case.

The bibliography is organized into four different parts. These are: "Compensation and Restitution in Cases of Population Transfer, Mass Expulsion, and both Intra-State and Inter-State Conflict," "Compensation and Restitution in Cases of Expropriation and Nationalization," "War Claims, Reparations and Post-War Restitution" and "Mechanisms." However, it is important to note that these are potentially overlapping categories.

The PRRN/IDRC compensation workshop was funded by IDRC and the Canadian International Development Agency thrrough the Expert and Advisory Services Fund. PRRN is a project of the Interuniversity Consortium for Arab Studies (Montréal).

Last modified 10/8/99. Marc Lanteigne/ mlante@po-box.mcgill.ca , Rex Brynen/ info@prrn.org