Germany is to increase compensation for victims of the Nazis and expand the number of groups eligible for payment, the ruling Social Democratic and Green Party coalition said Wednesday.

"Germany has a moral responsibility to ensure the dignity of victims as they grow older," said a statement by the coalition.

The finance ministry has approved the move, the statement said.

According to new compensation regulations, people who were forcibly sterilized by the Nazis will get as much as twice the compensation they got before, amounting to 100 euros (some 120 US dollars) per month.

"Those who were forcibly sterilized have suffered a barbarous life-long injustice," said the statement. "They could not build families and are often alone when they are old."

Children of those murdered by Nazis will be able to be compensated if they were 27 years old or younger, instead 21 yearsold under the current law, at the time their parents were killed.

The statement also said homosexuals convicted by Nazis will also be eligible for compensation, said the statement.

The ruling red-green coalition said they would try to further increase the compensation payments to Nazi victims next year.

Source: Xinhua