"For 30 years we were France's test bunnies", says Hinamura Morgan-Cross. The young MP is from French Polynesia - an archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, part of which is Tahiti.
The region is often described as a paradise - with white beaches, palm trees and turquoise blue water. But it is there that the French military has been testing nuclear weapons on the atolls of Muroroa and Fangataufa for three decades. 193 bombs have been detonated there, the first test was carried out on July 2, 1966.
Many of the local people suffer from cancer, children are born with disabilities, the water and soil are polluted, MP Morgan-Cross tells DW. "With their atomic tests, they poisoned the ocean from which we get our food. We were poisoned because of France's desire to become a nuclear superpower."
The Tale of the "Clean Bomb"
At the time, the French government deliberately deceived the inhabitants of the archipelago - the French atomic bomb was "green and very clean", claimed President Charles de Gaulle, and pointed out that this distinguished it from the atomic bomb in Hiroshima. Accordingly, the tests would not cause any harm. "French propaganda", commented Morgan-Cross.
The entire region is covered in radioactive clouds that reach even the main island of Tahiti, which is more than 1,000 km from the test site. Local residents are often not informed at all, let alone evacuated.
The government in Paris only stopped the tests in 1996 after mass protests at home and abroad. An official apology for the damage has never been made.
During his visit to French Polynesia in 2021, President Emmanuel Macron admitted some guilt. "The guilt lies in the fact that we carried out these tests". At the same time, he added that there was no way the tests could have been carried out in France.
The United Nations has declared September 26 as the International Day for the Elimination of Nuclear Weapons - so that the damage caused by them is not forgotten. However, today the suffering of the victims of nuclear tests seems almost forgotten. A number of young people, including Hinamura Morgan-Cross, are trying to counteract. The MP spoke during a visit to Berlin about the fate of her own family: her grandmother, who was 30 years old at the beginning of the tests, fell ill with thyroid cancer. The same misfortune befell her aunt and her mother. Morgan-Cross herself, who was born in 1988, as well as her sisters, also suffer from cancer.
Cancer can also manifest itself generations later
According to experts, the frequent occurrence of cancer in families is due to nuclear tests. Radioactive radiation can cause genetic defects that can be inherited by subsequent generations.
"The insidious thing about radioactive radiation is that it also gives rise to reflections generations later. This includes, among other things, a very high risk of various types of cancer, especially of the lymph glands, but also leukemia," says nuclear weapons expert Jeanne Baldus.
Another effect is the disorders in women exposed to radiation - they often give birth to children with disabilities or lose their children in spontaneous abortions. And these types of problems can also manifest themselves generations later, and it can also lead to infertility in women, Baldus points out.
Hinamura Morgan-Cross decided to enter politics precisely because of the numerous cancers in her family. She is demanding more support from France for her compatriots. "We don't have the medical care we deserve. As far as medication and technology are concerned - we are 30 years behind. We deserve a better hospital, better treatment." Only a few have been able to fly to Paris for treatment.
Compensation is difficult to obtain
In 2010, the French government passed a law allowing victims of nuclear tests to receive compensation. Each case is considered individually, and those affected must prove that their illnesses were caused by the tests.
In practice, this is often difficult, Baldus points out. "People have to prove that they were in that exact place at the time of the test, which is naturally difficult decades later."
In addition, the list of illnesses that can be recognized as grounds for compensation is relatively short. According to data from the non-governmental organization ICAN, 417 residents of French Polynesia received compensation between 2010 and 2014.
For Hinamura Morgan-Cross, it is not only material aid that is important, but also educational activities. In her homeland, the narrative is still maintained that the tests were something good and "clean", that they brought prosperity to the people. "For decades, we had pictures of nuclear mushroom clouds hanging in our homes because we were proud that the French had chosen us."
Will nuclear tests continue in the future?
Along with France, a number of other countries have conducted similar tests - the Soviet Union, the USA, the UK, China. In total, there have been over 2,000 explosions of nuclear weapons. Radiation spreads not only around the test areas, it leads to higher exposure worldwide.
The tests were only stopped with the imposition of moratoriums and negotiations to end nuclear tests. With the exception of North Korea, no other country has conducted such tests in recent years. However, in the context of the tense security situation recently, experts do not rule out their renewal.
Author: Nina Werkheuser