Japan apologises to people forcibly sterilised under defunct eugenics law
Survivors will get payouts of 3.2m yen each for policy aimed at ‘preventing birth of poor-quality descendants’
Japan’s government has issued an apology and awarded compensation to thousands of people with disabilities who were forcibly sterilised under a now-defunct eugenics law.
Under a law that passed parliament’s upper house on Wednesday, surviving victims will each receive 3.2m yen (£22,000) to compensate for their suffering and an apology from the state “for the great physical and mental suffering caused by the forced sterilisation programme”.