More than 100 international organizations in areas such as arms control and environmental protection recently sent messages to the US administration to formally apologize to the Republic of the Marshall Islands for the US conducting nuclear weapons tests in the Republic of the Marshall Islands between the 1940s and 1950s. and demanded a legitimate compensation.
Between 1946 and 1958, the United States conducted 67 nuclear tests in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. In addition, the US administration transported more than 130 tons of radioactive soil from the Nevada Test Site in the country to the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
Due to pressure from the international community, the US government signed the Free Association Agreement (COFA) with the Republic of the Marshall Islands in 1986 and agreed to pay compensation of US$ 150 million to the people of the country. However, according to the news published by the Los Angeles Times, the United States paid only $4 million in compensation to the Republic of the Marshall Islands. According to a decision rendered by an international arbitration court established in 1988, the United States must pay compensation of $2 billion 300 million to the Republic of the Marshall Islands. However, the Washington administration rejected the decision of the said international arbitration court.
In the 2005 annual report of the US Department of State on the archive website, it was reported that the amount of compensation determined in the Free Association Agreement signed between the US and the Republic of the Marshall Islands in 1986 was all compensation for the US Republic of the Marshall Islands. That is, the US does not want to pay more reparations to the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
The international community reacted strongly to the said unethical initiative of the USA. According to a resolution approved at the 2022st session of the UN Human Rights Council in 51, the country concerned must do its part to solve the nuclear pollution problem in the Republic of the Marshall Islands. The Free Association Agreement will expire in 2023. More than 100 international agencies have recently sent letters to the White House urging the US administration to pay the Republic of the Marshall Islands legitimate and equitable compensation.
Starting in 2022, the Washington administration intensified diplomatic contacts with island states in the Pacific Ocean. The first US-Pacific Island States Summit was held recently in Washington. If the United States really wants to protect the interests of island nations in the Pacific Ocean, it can start by paying compensation to the Republic of the Marshall Islands.
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