Surrendered Enemy Personnel (SEP) is a designation for captive enemy soldiers (similar to

Disarmed Enemy Forces Disarmed Enemy Forces (DEF, less commonly, Surrendered Enemy Forces) was a US designation for soldiers who surrendered to an adversary after hostilities ended, and for those POWs who had already surrendered and were held in camps in occupied Ger ...

). It was most commonly used by British forces towards German forces in Europe, and towards Japanese and associated forces in Asia after the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. On March 1, 1947 the U.S. stated that the SEPs should be regarded as POW's and be treated in accordance with the Geneva conventions. The designation of SEP allowed the Royal Navy to use the German command structure to facilitate the disbandment of the

Kriegsmarine The (, ) was the navy of Germany from 1935 to 1945. It superseded the Imperial German Navy of the German Empire (1871–1918) and the inter-war (1919–1935) of the Weimar Republic. The was one of three official branches, along with th ...

. In the Malay Emergency the UK also used the definition SEP, alongside Captured Enemy Personnel (CEP). The distinction made was that SEP were insurgents who surrendered to the British, while Captured Enemy Personnel were not. Both designations were treated as Prisoners of War.Ingrid Detter Delupis, ''"The Law of War"''
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p.328)

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