Sinn Fein assembly member Fra McCann welcomed the decision by the former internees to take a court case.

BBC: Republicans 'to sue government' over NI internment

The IRS issued a series of rulings in the 1950s and 1960s, involving prisoners of war, civilian internees and holocaust survivors.

FORBES: Wrongful Imprisonment Tax Ruling Stirs Controversy

In the 1950s, the IRS issued a series of rulings according tax-free status for payments to survivors of Nazi persecution, U.S. prisoners of war, and Japanese-American internees.

FORBES: Tax On Wrongful Imprisonment Needs Reform

In 2006, filmmaker Kerry Yo Nakagawa sent him a rough cut of "American Pastime, " a low-budget movie about Japanese American internees who played baseball inside the camps.

NPR: From Eggs To Film: A Japanese-American Studio Head

We managed to get in touch with the civilian internees at Stanley and there were reunion scenes between husbands and wives and children, which nearly made one weep.

BBC: NEWS | UK | Magazine | I hope to see you soon...

Martyn Day, solicitor for the Japanese Prisoners of War and Civilian Internees Association, said the PoWs felt the honour was "surprising" at a time when many veterans were awaiting the outcome of a long-running legal battle for compensation from the Japanese authorities.

BBC: PoWs' anger at Akihito honour