President Sarkozy wants to declare the atomic test islands "Places of National Pride” – Victims of radioactive contamination and human rights workers indignant

The Society for Threatened Peoples STP (Gesellschaft für bedrohte Völker GfbV) has called the plan of the French President Nicolas Sarkozy to declare the atomic test islands Moruroa and Hao in the South Sea "Places of Commemoration and National Pride” cynical and dehumanizing. Sarkozy announced at the end of last week that the two atolls would be publicly honoured in this way on 6th November. "The Maohi native people have no reason to be proud of France’s atomic colonialism”, said the STP consultant Ulrich Delius. "The atomic tests contaminated many of their islands and tens of thousands of the inhabitants. Apart from this several large nuclear waste repositories were made, the safety of which is not guaranteed.” Moruroa is a radioactive time-bomb for the whole Pacific since the atoll is riddled with holes like a Swiss cheese.

The association of Maohi victims” of the atomic tests, "Moruroa et tatou” (Moruroa and Us), also criticised Sarkozy’s plan sharply and accused the French President of provoking and demeaning the victims of the atomic tests. 6,000 Maohi, who were employed as casual workers, have joined the organisation, which was founded in 2001. All told, some 150,000 Maohi and French soldiers on the islands Moruroa and Fangataufa in the overseas territory of French Polynesia were contaminated in the 193 atomic tests between 1966 and 1995. Massive protests on the part of the Pacific neighbouring states caused the atomic tests to be finally stopped in 1995.

"To the present day most of the Maohi who were contaminated in the tests have been struggling in vain for compensation and proper medical care”, reported Delius. Dozens of them die every year from cancer. "For many decades France denied its responsibility for the radioactive contamination of human beings and nature.” A law passed in October 2009 by the French Senate does provide for compensation to a limited degree to the victims of the tests. "However most of the Maohi will receive nothing because the French offices will not open the archives with their data and medical reports.” The victims’ organisations regard the law as a bureaucratic farce. Without proper legal support the people affected have no chance of receiving adequate compensation.

Ulrich Delius can also be reached at asien@gfbv.de