HRN prepared two oral statements on Fukushima for the Human Rights Council regarding the treatment of Internally Displaced Persons and the risks of dumping contaminated soil. There is a transcript of both oral statements below the videos.
Oral Statement on Fukushima, Housing, and IDPs
Oral Statement on Fukushima Contaminated Soil Dumping and the Environment
Transcript of oral statement on Fukushima, Housing, and IDPs
14 years after the Fukushima nuclear disaster in Japan, 29,000 people are still officially evacuated as internally displaced persons.
Official housing support for the Fukushima IDPs was terminated in 2017, with prefectures then demanding evictions. Fukushima prefecture alone has filed 28 court cases to force eviction and seek compensation of double the amount of rent. The IDPs are struggling with physical and mental illnesses including terminal cancer, disability, and poverty. One of them was fined more than 50,000 euros, and the judges ignored international human rights law and the Guiding Principles on Internal Displacement.
Evicting IDPs from public housing without support measures to prevent their involuntary return to places where their life or health would be at risk due to radiation and potential homelessness is a violation of their rights.
We urge Fukushima prefecture and local authorities to withdraw these lawsuits immediately and the Japanese government to respect the UPR, CCPR and CEDAW recommendations for supporting the IDPs and to resume housing assistance to stop their suffering.
Thank you.
Transcript of oral statement on Fukushima Contaminated Soil Dumping and the Environment
In March 2011 in Japan, the Fukushima nuclear disaster damaged nature and created tens of thousands of evacuees, and the disaster hasn’t ended yet.
The government intends to expand the spreading across Japan of radioactive soil from interim storage facilities in Fukushima. It was revealed this includes soil from other contaminated areas of East Japan without any public consultation. Also, the ministry of environment is both operator and regulator, a serious conflict of interest.
This process spreads radioactive dust, which creates a risk of internal exposure through inhalation by workers and nearby residents and impacts food safety. Meanwhile existing Fukushima victims are still abandoned and suffering mentally, physically, and financially without official support.
The government’s decisions to release radioactive water into the Pacific Ocean for the next 30 years and ‘recycling’ radioactive soil widens the environmental damage and the risk of radioactive exposure.
We urge the government to engage with the public in decision-making and to stop the recycling plan of spreading radioactive soil all over Japan.