Islanders and descendants from Rongelap Atoll march in Majuro on the 60th anniversary of the nuclear explosion that led to their exile. “I do not believe it’s safe and I don’t want to put my children at risk.” “I won’t move there,” said Evelyn Ralpho-Jeadrik of her home atoll, Rongelap, which was engulfed in fallout from Bravo and evacuated two days after the test. The Marshall Islands Nuclear Claims Tribunal awarded more than $2bn in personal injury and land damage claims arising form the nuclear tests but stopped paying after a compensation fund was exhausted.Īs those who remembered the day gathered in the Marshall Islands’ capital of Majuro, along with younger generations, to commemorate the anniversary, many exiles refused to go back to the zones that were contaminated despite US safety assurances. But they were removed again in 1978 after ingesting high levels of radiation from eating foods grown on the former nuclear test site. When US government scientists declared Bikini safe for resettlement some residents were allowed to return in the early 1970s.
For the people of the Marshall Islands, international migration is the option of last resort,” she said.Bikini islanders and their descendants have lived in exile since they were moved for the first weapons tests in 1946. “This could include things like raising land, reclaiming land, or even consolidating population within an island. Saldivar-Sali said the new report, while highlighting a bleak future, should empower decision-makers and communities to understand their options. In a declaration published by the Pacific Islands Forum in August, Pacific leaders committed to fixing the baselines of maritime zones, so that in the event of islands shrinking or disappearing, nations retained the same amount of ocean territory. This is something Pacific island nations, including the Marshall Islands, are well aware of and have begun taking action on. Photograph: Vlad Sokhin/World BankĪnother legal concern for the Marshall Islands brought on by sea level rise is that of losing its vast exclusive maritime zone and therefore access to crucial fisheries that provide much of the country’s food and contributes significantly to its GDP. So, the question remains of whether the Marshall Islands’ territorial elements being challenged by sea level rise would lead to any impairment of statehood,” she said.Ĭhildren play near the remains of a house in Jenrok that was destroyed by the sea. “Under international law, statehood is established on the presumption that they will continue to be a state, with stability, a defined territory and population. “A key issue is the way that international law draws the difference between an island and just a rock, is whether this piece of territory is capable of sustaining human and economic life of its own,” said Duygu Çiçek, the author of the Legal Dimensions of Sea Level Rise, who advised the World Bank on the report. On top of the effects on individual livelihoods and the environment, the loss of land also presents a legal issue for the Marshall Islands. With the detail provided in the study, schools, businesses and housing developers could see where low-cost options (such as moving a building site a few feet) will have longer-term benefits in adapting to and dealing with sea level rise.” All these options come with a cost, however. “With this level of inundation, for daily life to continue, some serious adaptation measures would be necessary, such as raising floor levels, raising land levels or relocating buildings inland. So, when I saw that, I had to tell my family that this is about to happen, they needed to be aware of this.
“It’s the land that my daughter is named after. “One of the islands listed as being 100% underwater, completely covered, is Jaluit, which is actually the island where my family comes from,” she said. Jetñil-Kijiner said she was shocked to learn that her island would be so badly affected. I can say definitively that it’s a really difficult report to get through.”
“I remember first reading the report and thinking, ‘Oh, that’s what it’s going to look like, that’s what it’s going to cause’, and none of it feels good. “It’s always been a dark future, but now that dark future is becoming more clear,” said Kathy Jetñil-Kijiner, a poet and climate envoy from the Marshall Islands. Swipe across the image below to view the potential impact → Swipe across the image below to view the potential impact → The urban centre of Djarrit-Uliga-Delap in Majuro is at significant risk of inundation from 1-metre sea level rise. The urban centre of Djarrit-Uliga-Delap in Majuro is at significant risk of inundation from a 1-metre sea level rise.
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