Skip to main content

Macron under pressure to apologise for nuclear tests in Polynesia




PAPEETE: French President Emmanuel Macron faced pressure to apologise for the devastating impact of decades of nuclear testing as he kicked off his first official trip to French Polynesia.


During his four-day visit, Macron plans to address the legacy of nuclear testing from 1966 to 1996 as France developed atomic weapons, as well as discuss the South Pacific territory’s strategic role and the existential risk of rising seas posed by global warming.


Residents in the sprawling archipelago of more than 100 islands located midway between Mexico and Australia are hoping Macron apologises and confirms compensation for radiation victims.


The tests remain a source of deep resentment, seen as evidence of racist colonial attitudes that disregarded the lives of islanders.


After touching down on Saturday, Macron, whose 2020 trip was postponed due to the pandemic, met hospital workers fighting Covid-19 in the semi-autonomous territory where many are wary of vaccines.


“I want to send a very strong message to call on everyone to get vaccinated,” he said, adding: “When you’re vaccinated, you’re protected and you hardly spread the virus, or at least much less.”


Macron will be “encouraging several concrete steps” regarding the legacy of nuclear tests, with the opening up of state archives and individual compensation, a French presidential official who asked not to be named said.


French officials denied any cover-up of radiation exposure at a meeting earlier this month with delegates from the semi-autonomous territory led by President Edouard Fritch.


The meeting came after French investigative website Disclose reported in March that the impact from the fallout was far more extensive than authorities had acknowledged, citing declassified French military documents on the 193 tests.


Only 63 Polynesian civilians have been compensated for radiation exposure since the tests ended in 1996, Disclose said, estimating that more than 100,000 people may have been contaminated in total, with leukaemia, lymphoma and other cancers rife.


“We’re expecting an apology from the president,” said Auguste Uebe-Carlson, head of the 193 Association of victims of nuclear tests.


“Just as he has recognised as a crime the colonisation that took place in Algeria, we also expect him to declare that it was criminal and that it is a form of colonisation linked to nuclear power here in the Pacific.” Patrick Galenon, the former chairman of the territory’s CPS social security system, said female Polynesians aged 40 to 50 “have the highest thyroid cancer rates in the world.”


He estimates the CPS has spent 670 million euros ($790 million) to treat illnesses caused by radiation since 1985.


Macron, who arrived in French Polynesia after a visit to the Olympic Games in Tokyo, will also lay out his strategic vision for the South Pacific, where China has made no secret of its push for military and commercial dominance.


One of three French territories in the Pacific, French Polynesia has a population of around 280,000 over a huge swath of island groups spanning an area comparable in size to Western Europe. Tahiti is the most densely populated of the islands.


Macron “will present the Indo-Pacific strategy and the position France intends to maintain in this increasingly polarised zone”, the Elysee official said.


Macron also plans to address risks for the islands from rising sea levels as well as cyclones that some scientists warn could become more dangerous due to climate change.




#France, #Macron #Politics

Source Name : Diplomatic 24 > Politics
Source : https://diplomatic24.com/macron-under-pressure-to-apologise-for-nuclear-tests-in-polynesia/

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Afghanistan troop pullout a 'mistake', says former US president George W. Bush

Former United States president George W. Bush on Wednesday criticised the withdrawal of Nato troops from Afghanistan and said civilians were being left to be “slaughtered” by the Taliban. “Laura (Bush) and I spent a lot of time with Afghan women, and they're scared. And I think about all the interpreters and people that helped not only US troops but Nato troops, and it seems like they're just going to be left behind to be slaughtered by these very brutal people. And it breaks my heart,” Bush told German broadcaster Deutsche Welle. Asked whether he thought the withdrawal was a mistake, Bush replied: “Yes, I think it is.” Read: 'No smoking, no shaving' — Taliban restore old rules in newly seized Afghan territory The former Republican president, who sent troops to Afghanistan in autumn 2001 after the September 11 attacks on New York's World Trade Centre, said he believed German Chancellor Angela Merkel “feels the same way”. Bush said Me...
Post a Comment
Read more

Fighting in Yemen’s Marib region leaves 90 dead: govt sources

DUBAI: Fierce fighting between Yemeni pro-government forces and Iran-backed Houthi rebels has killed at least 90 combatants on both sides in the past 24 hours, government military sources said on Saturday. The rebels launched an offensive last month to seize Marib, the last stronghold in northern Yemen of pro-government forces who are backed by a Saudi-led military coalition. The clashes in the oil-rich province left 32 dead among government forces and loyalist tribes, while 58 Houthi rebels were killed in coalition air strikes, the sources said. Several killed on both sides in 24 hours They said heavy clashes broke out on six fronts as government forces were able to counter attacks by the Houthis, who managed to advance only on the Kassara front northwest of Marib city. The fighting also left dozens of people wounded, the sources added. The loss of Marib would be a huge blow for the Yemeni government, but would also mean a catastrophe for civilians, including hundreds of thousands of ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Malaysia deports over 1,000 Myanmar nationals in defiance of court order

LUMUT: Malaysia on Tuesday deported more than 1,000 Myanmar detainees back to their strife-torn homeland just weeks after a coup, despite a court order halting the repatriation and a storm of criticism. The migrants, whom activists say include vulnerable asylum seekers, departed on three Myanmar navy ships from a Malaysian military base after arriving on packed trucks and buses under police escort. The United States, the United Nations and rights groups had criticised the plan, while hours before the deportation a Kuala Lumpur court ordered it be temporarily halted to allow a legal challenge. Activists were set to argue it should not go ahead as Malaysia would breach its international duties by deporting vulnerable people, and the Myanmar military’s seizure of power put them at even greater risk. But the vessels later set sail carrying 1,086 detainees, with authorities giving no explanation as to why the court order had been ignored. Amnesty International, one of the groups that h...
Post a Comment
Read more