Evacutaion of Rongelap Islanders to Mejato by crew Rainbow Warrior. Pacific 1985.
The day it snowed on Rongelap, a small Pacific island near the
equator, was the day the people of the Pacific first experienced
the full horror of the nuclear age. The snow was in fact
radioactive fallout from the huge "Bravo" nuclear bomb, tested by
the US at Bikini Atoll on 1 March 1954.
Children played in the "snow", and no health or safety alerts
were provided to people living in the area. Later, islanders were
permanently evacuated from their homes, women delivered babies with
terrible deformations, known as "jellyfish babies", cancer rates
soared and Bikini atoll was declared permanently off limits.
Since that day Pacific island nations have suffered further
nuclear testing by France, the UK and the US and experienced
nuclear dumping and nuclear weapons deployment in their region.
Moruroa and Fangataufa atolls, French nuclear testing sites,
suffered structural damage, radioactive contamination of the lagoon
and plutonium pollution from above ground weapons-effects tests. It
is a tragedy, but no surprise, that Pacific island people are now
fighting the threat posed by British Nuclear Fuels' current
shipment of rejected plutonium MOX fuel through their region.
"We remember the injustice visited on our grandfathers at
Kirisimasi and fellow Pacific islanders in French Polynesia and the
Marshall Islands by nuclear testing," says Rev Akuila Yabaki, the
chairman of the Fiji NGO Coalition on Human Rights.
"The peoples of the Pacific fought and won the battle against
French nuclear testing in their region in 1996. We call for this
same determination to continue in yet another battle against the
transfer of plutonium mixed oxide and other nuclear shipments by
Japan, Britain, France and Australia across Pacific waters," says
Rev. "We believe these shipments pose risks to the livelihoods of
the Pacific peoples, our economies and our environments. They are
part of a cycle that endangers world peace and security. We ask our
leaders to work with other governments in the region to stop these
shipments once and for all."
Governments of the region are protesting these plutonium
shipments through their waters. The Federated States of Micronesia,
for example, has stated its strong opposition to the plutonium MOX
shipment, and called on the transport vessels to not transit
through their 200 mile Exclusive Economic Zone (EEZ).
In spite of their obligations under international law, the
Federated States of Micronesia government says "the interest of en
route states to be adequately consulted before any shipment is made
...has been... clearly disregarded. The Government of the Federated
States of Micronesia wishes therefore to reiterate its continued
strong opposition to the shipment of MOX fuel through the region,
especially through its Exclusive Economic Zone... It is apparent
that the shipping nations continue to show disregard for these
concerns and ignore their responsibility under international
maritime law. In that respect, the Government of the Federated
States of Micronesia urges the shipping nations involved to
immediately reconsider their plan to transit through the region
with the shipment of MOX fuel."
The lives of many Pacific islanders have already been decimated
as a result of the world's nuclear experiments. They are not
prepared to stand by and watch the quiet, peaceful waters that are
their home become nuclear highways.
You can help support their fight by opposing this plutonioum
shipment and joining the virtual flotilla.