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The Government has backed down to pressure from families and veterans and agreed to allow repatriation of the remains of soldiers buried in Singapore and Malaysia.
Veterans’ Affairs Minister David Bennett says this decision comes after an inquiry by the Veterans’ Advisory Board found inconsistencies in New Zealand’s repatriation policy between 1955 and 1971.
Bodies were buried overseas if families could not cover repatriation costs.
Mr Bennett says the families will make the decision to repatriate.
If they choose not to, the graves will continue to be cared for under current agreements.
The New Zealand Defence Force will look at extending the offer to the families of New Zealanders interred as a result of a military burial between 1955 and 1971 in American Samoa, Australia, Fiji, Korea, and the United Kingdom
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