Friends hear about nuclear testing in Pacific Islands
'According to the Kiritimati Association of Atomic Cancer Patients, 189 families became unwell after the tests.'
Earlier this month, Quakers heard about the consequences of British nuclear weapons testing on Pacific Islanders.
Becky Alexis-Martin, a Bradford Peace Studies academic, spoke about her research at the latest meeting of the Northern Friends Peace Board (NFPB) in early March. Learning the local language since 2016, she has travelled to the island of Kiribati to understand the effects of the thirty-three nuclear weapons tested by the US and UK around the country of Kiritimati between 1952 to 1962.
‘The places where Britain tested nuclear weapons are depicted as desolate wastelands in the Pacific,’ she said. ‘But all of these places, like the Marshall Islands and French Polynesia and Kiribati, were inhabited; they all had communities living there at the time.’
For years, Kiritimati has seen babies born with deformities. According to the Kiritimati Association of Atomic Cancer Patients, 189 families became unwell after the tests.
Philip Austin, coordinator of NFPB, said that Becky Alexis-Martin had helped bring the ‘experiences and voices’ of the people of Kiribati to the second meeting of parties to the UN Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons in December. ‘She urged Friends to continue and extend work to support that treaty – that includes within it a commitment to take action on the humanitarian impact of nuclear weapons development – and to campaign for the abolition of nuclear weapons.’
Other speakers at the NFPB meeting in Sheffield included Cassie Woodard, who works on the Middle East programme for Britain Yearly Meeting, including the Ecumenical Accompaniment Programme for Palestine and Israel.
According to the NFPB report, ‘Cassie described the challenges that programme continues to face, as well as the advocacy work that Quakers have undertaken in calling for a cessation of hostilities so that the humanitarian needs of people in Gaza can be properly addressed.’
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