The Benefits Act for Civilian War Victims (WUBO)

1.1 Wubo Adjudication

The Wubo organises the granting of benefits to persons who as civilians suffered war injuries during the Second World War resulting in permanent disabilities. The loss of earning capacity will be met by a means tested periodical benefit administered under this law.

The law also provides concessions or a contribution towards certain costs necessary for support related to the war disability if not covered by your Health Insurance.

To be eligible for a Wubo benefit you will need to belong to one of the following categories:

• You have suffered under the German or Japanese occupation as a civilian and sustained psychological or physical damage as a result of military actions (i.e. bombardments, shelling);
• You have sustained psychological or physical damage as a civilian as a result of enemy actions or measures against you, such as deprivation of freedom, forced labour, hiding or maltreatment;
• You have sustained psychological or physical damage as a civilian as a result of enemy actions against someone else (i.e. bullets gone astray);
• You have sustained psychological or physical damage as a civilian as a result of witnessing homicide, execution or severe maltreatment of a third party or the enemy which has resulted in a permanent disability;
• You have sustained psychological or physical damage as a civilian as a result of detonation of war material by no fault of your own;
• You have sustained psychological or physical damage as a civilian during the Bersiap Period (from 15 August 1945 - 27 December 1949) in the former Netherlands East-Indies, due to disturbances or irregularities (i.e. shootings, skirmishes with pemuda's or forced stays in extremists camps).

Widows and under age orphans of a civilian war victim can also apply for the Wubo benefits.

1.2 Solidarity Principle

Government and Parliament in the Netherlands passed this Act because they felt that the Netherlands has a special obligation towards solidarity with these victims of violence during the Second World War and the Bersiap Period. The Dutch taxpayers, the Dutch Public Treasury, pay the benefits. This Act is in principle for those who are Dutch nationals and reside in the Netherlands.

This is made very clear by the following conditions for the applicant:

• Nationality. At the date of the application the applicant must be a Dutch national;
• Residence.
• This applies for:
• Persons who at the time of the injury were Dutch or a Dutch nationals and must reside at the time of the application in the Netherlands;
• Persons who at the time of injury were residing as aliens in the Netherlands must, at the time of the application have lived in the Netherlands continuously. Moreover there must be no case of unworthy behaviour during the war time (i.e. collaboration with the enemy, being a member of the NSB or SS).

You cannot apply for the Wubo benefits whilst living abroad. There is only one exception:

1.3 "Anti-harshness clause"

With regards to the nationality requirement and the territorial requirement the Wubo (Article 3 sub 6) gives the Wubo Chamber the opportunity to deviate from the rules if in not applying under this law then would be an evidence of hardship, the so called "anti-harshness clause".

This clause concerns individual unforeseeable exceptions who do not quite satisfy the nationality and territorial requirements under the law mentioned, but for whom this law still has been intended. As you can see it is difficult to specify a general rule. There will always be some exceptions and these may cause to deviation from the general policy.

The Wubo Chamber will only use this"anti-harshness clause" in extreme cases. An essential criterion is that the reason for residing outside the Netherlands was required because of special circumstances, which were outside the influence of the applicant and that it could not have been expected of the applicant that he / she would not have decided to settle outside the Netherlands (i.e. to migrate because of medical reasons) in other circumstances. A clear solidarity with the Dutch community has to be proved at the time of the occurrence of the war injury and also at the time of the application. If you wish to apply under the"anti-harshness clause" you must prove that you were unable to stay in the Netherlands and had to reside abroad. If you already receive benefits under the Victims of Persecution 1940 - 1945 Benefits Act (=Wuv) or receive benefits from the Extraordinary Pension Act (=Wbp) you cannot apply for the benefits under the Wubo.

1.4 Entitlements

The main options are:

• Recognition,
• Periodical (monthly) income-substitute benefit,
• Special provisions. These are allowances or provisions to reimburse costs made with regards to the war disability, if not covered by your Health Insurance.
• Allowances based on article 19; to meet the extra costs involved with regards to unspecified provisions needed to improve the standard of living.

1.5 Submitting and processing an application

The Pension & Benefits Board in Leiden / Holland is charged with the implementation of the Wubo: the Wubo Chamber evaluates the applications and makes a decision, regarding eligibility of the applicant. The members of the Wubo Chamber were chosen because of their experience and expertise. Some of the members have suffered persecution themselves in the Netherlands or the Netherlands East Indies.

1.6 How to apply?

All applications should be sent in writing to the Consulate General of the Netherlands in Sydney. Please include in your letter your date of birth, your name and address, your signature and for which entitlement you are applying.

Send your letter to: The Consulate-General of the Netherlands, Wuv Department, P.O. Box 261, Bondi Junction NSW 1355.

1.7 Execution

The Wubo is a supplementary scheme. Income from other sources will be deducted from the Wubo-benefits. The hundreds of millions required each year are raised from the Dutch taxpayer. The benefits are not paid from compensation payments of the German and Japanese governments.

For more information you can visit the web site of the PUR.