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16-07-2023, 05:14 PM
Joseph Lee
Apr 21, 2023
In April 2020, a barbecue held at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa, a small Japanese island just east of Taiwan, accidentally triggered the release of 60,000 gallons of firefighting foam. There was no fire, but much of the foam spread throughout the nearby residential area, sliding through streets and floating into a stream.
The foam contained per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals.” Used in a wide variety of consumer products, PFAS have been found in air, water, and the blood streams of humans and animals across the world and can impact health causing low birth weights, cancer, and liver damage.
More than 15 percent of Okinawa is occupied by American and Japanese military bases. In 2022, water tests conducted by the government of Okinawa revealed PFAS levels up to 42 times higher than Japan’s national water standards with contamination found in drinking and bathing water for roughly 450,000 people, about a third of the island’s population. Local residents, many of whom are Indigenous Ryukyu Uchinaanchus, say the latest firefighting foam incident was another example of the harm caused by U.S. military installations on their land.
“What happened shows that they don’t care,” said Masaki Tomochi, who is Ryukyu Uchinaanchu and a professor at Okinawa International University. “They don’t care about us.”
The U.S. military is building a new base on Okinawa that marine experts and the Okinawa prefectural government say could threaten marine ecosystems, including coral reefs and thousands of marine species, desecrate Ryukyuan ancestor remains, and bring even more pollution and contamination. This week, a group of Ryukyu Uchinaanchus is at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues calling for urgent intervention, including the halt of construction of the new base in Henoko, release of military groundwater test data, and the closure of all 32 U.S. military bases on Okinawa. They are also demanding the recognition of their rights as Indigenous peoples, which Japan refuses to grant, despite multiple recommendations from U.N. agencies, including the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Human Rights Committee to do so.
But without acknowledgement from the Japanese government, Ryukyuans have limited options. They say the United Nations is their only pathway to justice, and request that the Permanent Forum arrange a meeting between Ryukyuan leaders and Japan to talk, for the U.S. to create a chemical clean up plan, and immediately provide clean drinking and bathing water to all affected people.
The rest of the article at: https://grist.org/global-indigenous-affa...e-okinawa/
Apr 21, 2023
In April 2020, a barbecue held at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma in Okinawa, a small Japanese island just east of Taiwan, accidentally triggered the release of 60,000 gallons of firefighting foam. There was no fire, but much of the foam spread throughout the nearby residential area, sliding through streets and floating into a stream.
The foam contained per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, or PFAS, also known as “forever chemicals.” Used in a wide variety of consumer products, PFAS have been found in air, water, and the blood streams of humans and animals across the world and can impact health causing low birth weights, cancer, and liver damage.
More than 15 percent of Okinawa is occupied by American and Japanese military bases. In 2022, water tests conducted by the government of Okinawa revealed PFAS levels up to 42 times higher than Japan’s national water standards with contamination found in drinking and bathing water for roughly 450,000 people, about a third of the island’s population. Local residents, many of whom are Indigenous Ryukyu Uchinaanchus, say the latest firefighting foam incident was another example of the harm caused by U.S. military installations on their land.
“What happened shows that they don’t care,” said Masaki Tomochi, who is Ryukyu Uchinaanchu and a professor at Okinawa International University. “They don’t care about us.”
The U.S. military is building a new base on Okinawa that marine experts and the Okinawa prefectural government say could threaten marine ecosystems, including coral reefs and thousands of marine species, desecrate Ryukyuan ancestor remains, and bring even more pollution and contamination. This week, a group of Ryukyu Uchinaanchus is at the United Nations Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues calling for urgent intervention, including the halt of construction of the new base in Henoko, release of military groundwater test data, and the closure of all 32 U.S. military bases on Okinawa. They are also demanding the recognition of their rights as Indigenous peoples, which Japan refuses to grant, despite multiple recommendations from U.N. agencies, including the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and the Human Rights Committee to do so.
But without acknowledgement from the Japanese government, Ryukyuans have limited options. They say the United Nations is their only pathway to justice, and request that the Permanent Forum arrange a meeting between Ryukyuan leaders and Japan to talk, for the U.S. to create a chemical clean up plan, and immediately provide clean drinking and bathing water to all affected people.
The rest of the article at: https://grist.org/global-indigenous-affa...e-okinawa/
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