Latest news with #Marshallese
Scoop
4 days ago
- Health
- Scoop
Marshall Islands Nuclear Legacy: Report Highlights Lack Of Health Research
A new report on the United States nuclear weapons testing legacy in the Marshall Islands highlights the lack of studies into important health concerns voiced by Marshallese for decades. Giff Johnson, Editor, Marshall Islands Journal / RNZ Pacific correspondent A new report on the United States nuclear weapons testing legacy in the Marshall Islands highlights the lack of studies into important health concerns voiced by Marshallese for decades that make it impossible to have a clear understanding of the impacts of the 67 nuclear weapons tests. 'The Legacy of US Nuclear Testing in the Marshall Islands,' a report by Dr. Arjun Makhijani of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, was released late last month. The report was funded by Greenpeace Germany and is an outgrowth of the organization's flagship vessel, Rainbow Warrior III, visiting the Marshall Islands from March to April to recognize the 40th anniversary of the resettlement of the nuclear test-affected population of Rongelap Atoll. Dr Mahkijani said among the 'many troubling aspects' of the legacy is that the United States had concluded, in 1948, after three tests, that the Marshall Islands was not 'a suitable site for atomic experiments' because it did not meet the required meteorological criteria. 'Yet testing went on,' he said. 'Also notable has been the lack of systematic scientific attention to the accounts by many Marshallese of severe malformations and other adverse pregnancy outcomes like stillbirths. This was despite the documented fallout throughout the country and the fact that the potential for fallout to cause major birth defects has been known since the 1950s.' Makhijani highlights the point that, despite early documentation in the immediate aftermath of the 1954 Bravo hydrogen bomb test and numerous anecdotal reports from Marshallese women about miscarriages and still births, US government medical officials in charge of managing the nuclear test-related medical program in the Marshall Islands never systematically studied birth anomalies. The US deputy secretary of state in the Biden-Harris administration, Kurt Cambell, said that Washington, over decades, had committed billions of dollars to the damages and the rebuilding of the Marshall Islands. 'I think we understand that that history carries a heavy burden, and we are doing what we can to support the people in the [Compact of Free Association] states, including the Marshall Islands,' he told reporters at the Pacific Islands Forum leaders' meeting in Nuku'alofa last year. 'This is not a legacy that we seek to avoid. We have attempted to address it constructively with massive resources and a sustained commitment.' Among points outlined in the new report: Gamma radiation levels at Majuro, the capital of the Marshall Islands, officially considered a 'very low exposure' atoll, were tens of times, and up to 300 times, more than background in the immediate aftermaths of the thermonuclear tests in the Castle series at Bikini Atoll in 1954. Thyroid doses in the so-called 'low exposure atolls' averaged 270 milligray (mGy), 60 percent more than the 50,000 people of Pripyat near Chernobyl who were evacuated (170 mGy) after the 1986 accident there, and roughly double the average thyroid exposures in the most exposed counties in the United States due to testing at the Nevada Test Site. Despite this, 'only a small fraction of the population has been officially recognized as exposed enough for screening and medical attention; even that came with its own downsides, including people being treated as experimental subjects,' the report said. 'In interviews and one 1980s country-wide survey, women have reported many adverse pregnancy outcomes,' said the report. 'They include stillbirths, a baby with part of the skull missing and 'the brain and the spinal cord fully exposed,' and a two-headed baby. Many of the babies with major birth defects died shortly after birth. 'Some who lived suffered very difficult lives, as did their families. Despite extensive personal testimony, no systematic country-wide scientific study of a possible relationship of adverse pregnancy outcomes to nuclear testing has been done. It is to be noted that awareness among US scientists of the potential for major birth defects due to radioactive fallout goes back to the 1950s. Hiroshima-Nagasaki survivor data has also provided evidence for this problem. 'The occurrence of stillbirths and major birth defects due to nuclear testing fallout in the Marshall Islands is scientifically plausible but no definitive statement is possible at the present time,' the report concluded. 'The nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands created a vast amount of fission products, including radioactive isotopes that cross the placenta, such as iodine-131 and tritium. Radiation exposure in the first trimester can cause early failed pregnancies, severe neurological damage, and other major birth defects. This makes it plausible that radiation exposure may have caused the kinds of adverse pregnancy outcomes that were experienced and reported. However, no definitive statement is possible in the absence of a detailed scientific assessment.' Scientists who traveled with the Rainbow Warrior III on its two-month visit to the Marshall Islands earlier this year collected samples from Enewetak, Bikini, Rongelap and other atolls for scientific study and evaluation.
Scoop
4 days ago
- Health
- Scoop
Marshall Islands Nuclear Legacy: Report Highlights Lack Of Health Research
, Editor, Marshall Islands Journal / RNZ Pacific correspondent A new report on the United States nuclear weapons testing legacy in the Marshall Islands highlights the lack of studies into important health concerns voiced by Marshallese for decades that make it impossible to have a clear understanding of the impacts of the 67 nuclear weapons tests. 'The Legacy of US Nuclear Testing in the Marshall Islands,' a report by Dr. Arjun Makhijani of the Institute for Energy and Environmental Research, was released late last month. The report was funded by Greenpeace Germany and is an outgrowth of the organization's flagship vessel, Rainbow Warrior III, visiting the Marshall Islands from March to April to recognize the 40th anniversary of the resettlement of the nuclear test-affected population of Rongelap Atoll. Dr Mahkijani said among the "many troubling aspects" of the legacy is that the United States had concluded, in 1948, after three tests, that the Marshall Islands was not 'a suitable site for atomic experiments' because it did not meet the required meteorological criteria. "Yet testing went on," he said. "Also notable has been the lack of systematic scientific attention to the accounts by many Marshallese of severe malformations and other adverse pregnancy outcomes like stillbirths. This was despite the documented fallout throughout the country and the fact that the potential for fallout to cause major birth defects has been known since the 1950s." Makhijani highlights the point that, despite early documentation in the immediate aftermath of the 1954 Bravo hydrogen bomb test and numerous anecdotal reports from Marshallese women about miscarriages and still births, US government medical officials in charge of managing the nuclear test-related medical program in the Marshall Islands never systematically studied birth anomalies. The US deputy secretary of state in the Biden-Harris administration, Kurt Cambell, said that Washington, over decades, had committed billions of dollars to the damages and the rebuilding of the Marshall Islands. "I think we understand that that history carries a heavy burden, and we are doing what we can to support the people in the [Compact of Free Association] states, including the Marshall Islands," he told reporters at the Pacific Islands Forum leaders' meeting in Nuku'alofa last year. "This is not a legacy that we seek to avoid. We have attempted to address it constructively with massive resources and a sustained commitment." Among points outlined in the new report: Gamma radiation levels at Majuro, the capital of the Marshall Islands, officially considered a "very low exposure" atoll, were tens of times, and up to 300 times, more than background in the immediate aftermaths of the thermonuclear tests in the Castle series at Bikini Atoll in 1954. Thyroid doses in the so-called "low exposure atolls" averaged 270 milligray (mGy), 60 percent more than the 50,000 people of Pripyat near Chernobyl who were evacuated (170 mGy) after the 1986 accident there, and roughly double the average thyroid exposures in the most exposed counties in the United States due to testing at the Nevada Test Site. Despite this, "only a small fraction of the population has been officially recognized as exposed enough for screening and medical attention; even that came with its own downsides, including people being treated as experimental subjects," the report said. "In interviews and one 1980s country-wide survey, women have reported many adverse pregnancy outcomes," said the report. "They include stillbirths, a baby with part of the skull missing and 'the brain and the spinal cord fully exposed,' and a two-headed baby. Many of the babies with major birth defects died shortly after birth. "Some who lived suffered very difficult lives, as did their families. Despite extensive personal testimony, no systematic country-wide scientific study of a possible relationship of adverse pregnancy outcomes to nuclear testing has been done. It is to be noted that awareness among US scientists of the potential for major birth defects due to radioactive fallout goes back to the 1950s. Hiroshima-Nagasaki survivor data has also provided evidence for this problem. "The occurrence of stillbirths and major birth defects due to nuclear testing fallout in the Marshall Islands is scientifically plausible but no definitive statement is possible at the present time," the report concluded. "The nuclear tests in the Marshall Islands created a vast amount of fission products, including radioactive isotopes that cross the placenta, such as iodine-131 and tritium. Radiation exposure in the first trimester can cause early failed pregnancies, severe neurological damage, and other major birth defects. This makes it plausible that radiation exposure may have caused the kinds of adverse pregnancy outcomes that were experienced and reported. However, no definitive statement is possible in the absence of a detailed scientific assessment." Scientists who traveled with the Rainbow Warrior III on its two-month visit to the Marshall Islands earlier this year collected samples from Enewetak, Bikini, Rongelap and other atolls for scientific study and evaluation.
Yahoo
24-03-2025
- Sport
- Yahoo
'Dreams come true' for nation with no football team
A fundraiser has been set-up to help a nation's "dreams come true" by playing their first ever international football match. The Marshall Islands are the self-proclaimed "last country on Earth without a football team" but Lloyd Owers, from Banbury in Oxfordshire, is hoping to change that. He is the technical director of the Marshall Island Soccer Federation which is organising an international tournament to be held in Arkansas in the US, in August. "It's an honour to be part of it," said Mr Owers, who started the job in 2023, adding it was a first step towards the team joining FIFA and competing in World Cup qualifying matches. "We have massive ambitions," he told BBC Radio Oxfordshire. "We want to be part of something big. "We didn't want to take the easy option of playing local, regional countries. We wanted to test ourselves and put ourselves on the map." The Marshall Islands is a chain of volcanic islands and coral-based atolls in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, with a population of about 40,000 people. Its football federation is planning to stage a four-team tournament at John Brown University, against established FIFA nations; Turks & Caicos, the US Virgin Islands and Guam. Mr Owers said the reason the event would be held 6,200 miles (10,000km) from their homeland is because Arkansas is home to the largest community of Marshallese, outside of the Marshall Islands. When Mr Owers started the job in 2023 he said the main island of Majuro "had nothing - no football infrastructure whatsoever". He said he applied for the role because "the opportunity to be part of something massive was incredible in itself". "The place, in terms of the location, was obviously a draw as well," he admitted. "Over the last two years we've managed to go from strength to strength, now leading to what we've announced this week in terms of our first international fixtures. "So, yeah, exciting news." The federation is hoping to raise £20,000 to help pay for kit, equipment and accommodation for the visiting teams. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram. The 'last country' on Earth without a national football team Creating a national side 'like starting pub team' Marshall Islands Soccer Federation
BBC News
24-03-2025
- Sport
- BBC News
Marshall Islands plan first international football fixtures
A fundraiser has been set-up to help a nation's "dreams come true" by playing their first ever international football Marshall Islands are the self-proclaimed "last country on Earth without a football team" but Lloyd Owers, from Banbury in Oxfordshire, is hoping to change is the technical director of the Marshall Island Soccer Federation which is organising an international tournament to be held in Arkansas in the US, in August."It's an honour to be part of it," said Mr Owers, who started the job in 2023, adding it was a first step towards the team joining FIFA and competing in World Cup qualifying matches. "We have massive ambitions," he told BBC Radio Oxfordshire."We want to be part of something big. "We didn't want to take the easy option of playing local, regional countries. We wanted to test ourselves and put ourselves on the map."The Marshall Islands is a chain of volcanic islands and coral-based atolls in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, with a population of about 40,000 football federation is planning to stage a four-team tournament at John Brown University, against established FIFA nations; Turks & Caicos, the US Virgin Islands and Owers said the reason the event would be held 6,200 miles (10,000km) from their homeland is because Arkansas is home to the largest community of Marshallese, outside of the Marshall Islands. When Mr Owers started the job in 2023 he said the main island of Majuro "had nothing - no football infrastructure whatsoever".He said he applied for the role because "the opportunity to be part of something massive was incredible in itself"."The place, in terms of the location, was obviously a draw as well," he admitted. "Over the last two years we've managed to go from strength to strength, now leading to what we've announced this week in terms of our first international fixtures. "So, yeah, exciting news." The federation is hoping to raise £20,000 to help pay for kit, equipment and accommodation for the visiting teams. You can follow BBC Oxfordshire on Facebook, X (Twitter), or Instagram.
New York Times
19-03-2025
- Sport
- New York Times
Marshall Islands to play their first 11-a-side international match in Arkansas
The Marshall Islands, the last country in the world without a football team, are set to play their first 11-a-side fixtures. The Pacific Island nation, which boasts fewer than 40,000 inhabitants, will take on neighbours the U.S. Virgin Islands, the Turks and Caicos Islands, and Guam in a mini-tournament, Outrigger Cup, this August. Advertisement However, the matches will take place 10,000km (6,200 miles) away from the islands in Springvale, Arkansas — home to the largest Marshallese population outside of the nation itself. The national squad will include players of Marshallese descent who grew up in the United States and Europe, who may have played football at college level, as well as players of American descent who grew up in the Marshall Islands themselves. Though there are other countries which have not played a FIFA-accredited fixture, the Marshall Islands are the final nation to have never played an 11-a-side match at all. The Marshall Islands' football leadership, a mix of British and Marshallese coaches and volunteers, believe this will help achieve their ultimate aim of recognition from FIFA and the OFC (Oceania Football Confederation). 'We don't want to play lower risk games,' says Lloyd Owers, the technical director of the Marshall Islands, who was originally inspired to help join the coaching staff after reading a profile of the team in The Athletic in 2021. 'We want to play against opponents where we will be tested, the best we can play against at the time. They are FIFA-accredited opponents. Though we're not a member, it's all part of what we want to be doing and achieving in terms of recognition. 'Playing our first 11-a-side game is unbelievable from where we started from, it was just a pipedream. But we've created a lot of pathways and structures for kids to be playing and adults to be coaching. This is the pinnacle of where we want to be before we reach our goal of confederation membership. We want the opportunity to play 11 vs 11, to represent the country, and to be the first group of people to do that.' Historically, football has not been played in the Marshall Islands due to a lack of pitch space, coaching expertise, and wider interest, with the nation far more in the United States' sporting orbit. Basketball is the most popular sport. Advertisement Another challenge is climate change, with the nation an average of just two metres above sea-level. The team aims to use football to draw awareness to the islands' plight, releasing an away kit with missing segments to highlight the risk that the country could be wiped out by rising sea levels before they play their first competitive fixture. Without FIFA accreditation and funding, the Marshall Islands will spend the next five months fundraising to fulfill the matches, allowing local players from the islands to fly over for the game.
