HAP CONFERENCE THE HAGUE NETHERLANDS MAY 11-15 1999 GLOBAL HIBAKUSHA SESSION NETHERLANDS CONFERENCE STATEMENT BY: NORIO KEBENLI MR. CHAIRMAN, DISTINGUISHED GUESTS, LADIES AND GENTLEMEN. IT IS A PRIVILEGE AND HONOR FOR ME TO STAND IN FRONT OF YOU TODAY, TO SPEAK ON BEHALF OF THE PEOPLE OF RONGELAP, MOST ESPECIALLY THOSE THAT SUFFERED THE CONSEQUENCES OF NUCLEAR TESTING. LET ME INTRODUCE MYSELF SO YOU WILL HAVE A BETTER UNDERSTANDING OF WHO I AM, AND WHERE I COME FROM. MY NAME IS NORIO KEBENLI. I WAS BORN ON RONGELAP IN THE MARSHALL ISLANDS ON JULY 21, 1943. I GREW UP, AND WAS RAISED ON RONGELAP UNTIL I MOVED TO MAJURO WHERE I ATTENDED SECONDARY SCHOOLING. AFTER FOUR YEARS IN MAJURO, I MOVED TO EBEYE, KWAJALEIN WHERE I STAYED AND WORKED AT THE MILITARY BASE ON KWAJALEIN UNTIL ABOUT SIX YEARS AGO WHEN I WAS GIVEN THE RESPONSIBILITY TO SERVE MY PEOPLE OF RONGELAP AS THEIR TREASURER. I HAVE CLOSE ASSOCIATION WITH RONGELAP ATOLL LOCAL GOVERNMENT. FIRST AS A MEMBER OF THE COUNCIL, AND NOW AS THEIR CLERK, I HAVE, ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS, REPRESENTED MY PEOPLE IN CONFERENCES LIKE THIS ELSEWHERE IN THE WORLD. TODAY, I AM HERE AGAIN TO TELL YOU THE SAME STORY THAT I TOLD THE PEOPLE IN JAPAN, NORWAY, SAIPAN, AND EVEN PEOPLE IN THE U.S. CONGRESS. THE STORY HAS BEEN PART OF MY LIFE, AND IT IS SOMETHING THAT I DEAL WITH EACH DAY OF MY LIFE. EVENTHOUGH THE TIME DOES NOT PERMIT ME TO TELL YOU THE ENTIRE SORY OF ALLTHE ACTUAL EVENTS THAT TOOK PLACE AFTER THE FALLOUT, I JUST WANT YOU TO UNDERSTAND THAT WE ARE THE VICTIMS, AND WE SUFFERED A GREAT DEAL. IN THE EARLY HOURS OF MARCH 1, 1954, THE UNITED STATES CONDUCTED ONE OF SEVERAL NUCLEAR BOMB TESTS ABOUT 100 MILES WEST OF RONGELAP ATOLL. IT WAS A BEAUTIFUL MORNING AND AS USUAL, I WOKE UP VERY EARLY TO HELP MY OLDER SISTERS PREPARE FOR THE SCHOOL THAT DAY. IT WAS OUR TURN TO PREPARE FOOD FOR THE SCHOOL THAT DAY. AT ABOUT 5:30 AM, WHILE I WAS STANDING OUTSIDE THE COOK HOUSE, ALL OF THE SUDDEN A BIG “FLASH” CAME FROM THE WEST, AND A FEW MINUTES LATER, I SAW A HUGE ORANGE-LIKE COLORED CLOUD APPEAR IN THE WEST. IT WAS SHAPED LIKE A BIG TREE. NOT KNOWING WHAT WAS GOING ON, I CONTINUED TO DO MY CHORES. ABOUT AN HOUR LATER, I HEARD A VERY LOUD NOISE. IT SOUNDED LIKE A BIG THUNDER STORM COMING FROM THE WEST AND WAS HEARD ALL THE WAY TO THE EAST. I WAS DAMNED SCARED. AND SO WERE THE REST OF THE PEOPLE ON THE ISLAND. IT WAS NOT UNTIL LATER THAT AFTERNOON WHEN WE STARTED TO FEEL SOMETHING FALLING ON OUR SKINS, IRRITATING OUR EYES, AND SUCH SICK FEELINGS OF NO KNOWN CAUSE TO US THAT WE FEARED SOMETHING TERRIBLE HAS HAPPENED TO US. WE JUST DIDN’T KNOW WHAT WAS GOING ON. ABOUT 5:00 P. M. ON THAT VERY DAY, A MILITARY SEAPLANE ARRIVED. TWO OR THREE MEN GOT OFF THE PLANE, EQUIPPED WITH INSTRUMENTS TO CHECK THE LEVEL OF RADIOACTIVITY ON THE ISLAND. THE ISLAND WAS COVERED WITH YELLOWISH-LIKE SUBSTANCE; BOTH INSIDE AND OUTSIDE THE HOUSES WERE COVERED WITH THIS SUBSTANCE. ONE OF MY CLEAREST RECOLLECTIONS WAS THAT THESE PEOPLE WHO CAME ON THE PLANE SPENT LESS THAN AN HOUR ON OUR ISLAND, AND BEFORE THEY LEFT THEY TOLD MR. BILLIET EDMOND, THE FORMER MAYOR, WHO WAS A TEACHER AT THAT TIME, TO INFORM THE PEOPLE NOT TO DRINK FROM THE WATER CATCHMENTS, OR EAT ANY FOOD FROM THE ISLAND. THE PEOPLE WERE ALSO TOLD ABOUT THE PLAN FOR EVACUATION. ON MARCH 2, THE FOLLOWING DAY, A MILITARY SHIP ARRIVED AROUND 7:00 IN THE MORNING TO EVACUATE OUR PEOPLE FROM THE ISLAND TO KWAJALEIN WHERE WE UNDERWENT TESTS AFTER TESTS. WE WERE SICK AND CONFUSED. THE JOURNEY TO KWAJALEIN WAS THE BEGINNING OF OUR ENDLESS JOURNEY. WE REMAINED IN KWAJALEIN UNDER THE CARE OF MILITARY UNTIL WE WERE MOVED TO TEMPORARY RESETTLEMENT ON EJIT ISLAND. THIS TINY ISLAND WAS OUR HOME AWAY FROM HOME FOR ABOUT FOUR YEARS UNTIL WE WERE RELOCATED BACK TO OUT HOME ISLAND IN 1957. NOT KNOWING THAT OUR HOME ISLAND WAS STILL CONTAMINATED, GOING HOME MADE US VERY HAPPY. WE LIVED HAPPILY FOR SEVERAL YEARS UNTIL 1985 WHEN OUR LATE SENETOR JETON ANJAIN DECIDED TO RELOCATE US ONCE AGAIN TO MEJATTO, A VERY SMALL ISLAND WITHIN THE KWAJALEIN ATOLL. WE HAVE SINCE THEN LIVED IN EXILE ON THIS ISLAND. LIFE IS VERY HARD THERE BECAUSE WE HAVE VERY LIMITED ACCESS TO HOSPITALS, STORES, CHURCHES, AND SCHOOLS. WE TRAVEL BY BOATS ABOUT 70 MILES TO THE NEAREST PLACE WHERE WE CAN GET OUR FOOD AND OTHER NECESSITIES. OUR PATIENTS HAVE A HARD TIME TRAVELING ESPECIALLY BY BOATS THROUGH ROUGH SEAS, TO GET MEDICAL CARE. I JUST DON’T KNOW WHEN MY HOMELAND WILL BE SAFE AGAIN, SO OUR PEOPLE CAN GO BACK TO LIVE THERE. SPEAKING ON BEHALF THE PEOPLE OF RONGELAP, I WOULD LIKE TO SAY “ONCE AGAIN”, AS I HAVE ALWAYS TOLD OTHERS, THAT WE, THE PEOPLE OF RONGELAP DON’T WANT ANY MORE NUCLEAR TESTING, NOT ONLY IN OUR ISLANDS, BUT ALSO AROUND THE WORLD. WE DON’T WANT SOMETHING LIKE THIS TO HAPPEN TO YOU AND YOUR PEACEFUL LIFE HERE IN THE NETHERLANDS. LAST BUT NOT LEAST, WE WILL CONTINUE TO PRAY AND SUPPORT ANY MOVEMENT TO STOP NUCLEAR TESTING IN THE WORLD. .