“The reason I continue to testify about environmental disaster damage is because it is a preventive measure.”

Kyung Hyang Daily Apr 22, 2024

Victims of Minamata disease in Japan, Chernobyl nuclear power plant, humidifier disinfectant, etc.

“In addition to compensating the perpetrator, the government must step forward to provide medical and education support.”

“The best way to prevent environmental disasters is to increase social awareness of environmental disasters. This is why victims of environmental disasters must continue to testify about them.”

To commemorate Earth Day, the Citizens' Center for Environmental Health, the Asian Occupational and Environmental Victims' Rights Network, and others held an online testimony contest called 'Victims' Voices for Global Environmental Justice' using the video conferencing service Zoom on the 22nd. Victims of environmental disasters and their bereaved families from all over the world shared stories of the disasters they had experienced and agreed that a ‘victims’ movement’ was more important than anything else to prevent another disaster from occurring. This is the first time that survivors and bereaved families of representative environmental disasters have gathered to testify directly about the damage and share the situation.

Victims and bereaved families who are fighting to be recognized as victims all over the world, including Japan's Minamata disease, India's Bhopal disaster, LG Chemical India disaster, and Korea's humidifier disinfectant disaster, said on Earth Day, 'Informing citizens about the dangers of environmental disasters is essential. He said it was a ‘social precaution’.

“We need to raise awareness of environmental disasters that can have a negative impact on many people,” said Olga Kolomiyets, a Ukrainian scientist who was exposed to radiation while working on disaster prevention work in the area surrounding the Chernobyl nuclear power plant accident in 1987 and later developed breast cancer. “We must continue to talk about the tragedy,” she said.

Victims said that in order to recover their daily lives after the accident, not only compensation from the perpetrator but also long-term government medical and educational support is necessary. Bati Bai, a victim of the Bhopal disaster caused by the American company Union Carbide (now Dow Chemical) in India, said, “In a situation where the at-fault company is still not providing proper compensation even after 40 years of the disaster, there is a need for the government to step in and provide medical support.” pointed out. Her parents suffered permanent eye damage from exposure to the gas during the accident, and her father recently died from chronic lung disease.

The Bhopal disaster occurred on December 3, 1984, when methyl isocyanide, a hazardous chemical, leaked from a pesticide manufacturing plant in Bhopal, central India, killing 2,250 people and harming more than 500,000 people according to official figures.

Victims also shared the hardships of having to continue fighting against the government or companies in lengthy lawsuits to be recognized as victims. Hideki Sato, a victim of Minamata disease in Japan, which was caused by mercury contamination in the 1950s and 1960s, said, “On the 18th, the Niigata court issued a ruling on a lawsuit to recognize the damage, but only 26 out of 45 residents were recognized and the rest were dismissed.” Sato explained, “It is natural for him to win because he is a real (Minamata disease) patient, but the Japanese government is making sure not to acknowledge the damage.”

Latha, a victim of the styrene gas leak accident at LG Polymers India, a local subsidiary of LG Chemical, which is called the second Bhopal disaster, said, “I lost my 10-year-old daughter in the accident on May 7, 2020,” and added, “However, LG did not provide any compensation” ahe testified. She, who lives in Vishakhapatnam, a coastal city in central India, said, “At least 26 people died in the disaster, about 500 were hospitalized, and 20,000 people were evacuated, but compensation has not been properly provided, so it is being called the second Bhopal disaster.” said.

Residents of the Maldives, an island nation in the Indian Ocean that is experiencing the most severe climate crisis, also attended and testified that the entire country is being submerged in seawater. Mohamed Purugan, a Maldivian, pointed out, “Everyone in the world is talking about the climate crisis, but carbon reduction efforts are still minimal.”

Dr. Rok-ho Kim, former director of the World Health Organization (WHO), said, “WHO estimates that there are 13 million deaths annually due to environmental pollution,” adding, “This is largely due to companies using unsafe and unhealthy technologies. “This is because the risks of the business are being passed on to the local community,” he said.