France admits blame for nuclear tests illness

FRANCE has officially acknowledged that French Polynesians were effectively forced into accepting almost 200 nuclear tests conducted over 30 years and that it is responsible for compensating them for the illnesses caused by the fallout.

The French parliament issued the admission in a bill reforming the status of the collectivity of 118 islands in the South Pacific with MPS saying the change should make it easier for the local population to request compensation for cancer and other illnesses linked to radioactivity.

From 1966 to 1996, France carried out 193 nuclear tests around the islands, including Bora Bora and Tahiti.

The bill acknowledges that the islands were “called upon” into accepting the tests and that France will “support the economic and structural reconversion of French Polynesia following the cessation of tests”.