Pacific Small Island Developing States say the world does not need nuclear weapons.
The "Baker" underwater nuclear weapons test at Bikini Atoll in 1946. Dozens of World War II vessels were used as targets for this weapons test, and now lie on the atoll's lagoon floor. Photo: US Navy. Photo: Supplied/ Giff Johnson
Marking International Day Against Nuclear Explosions last weekend, the island nations agreed they had all suffered the effects of nuclear testing in the region.
Presenting a joint statement from 12 Pacific countries to the United Nations General Assembly, Fiji's Prime Minister said more than 300 nuclear tests were carried out in the Pacific from 1946 to 1996 - in the atmosphere, underground and underwater.
Frank Bainimarama told the online event communities living close to 'ground zero' were relocated from their ancestral homes and restricted from using the ocean resources for their livelihoods.
Mr Bainimarama says those impacted also faced an increase in related health problems.
"At the end of these nuclear tests, radioactive waste and machinery were either buried or dumped into the Pacific Ocean. Today, we still do not know the full impact of these nuclear tests on our environment and communities," Frank Bainimarama said.
Photo taken 06 June 2000 of part of the atoll of Mururoa, four years after the cessation of French nuclear testing. Almost all the installations that sheltered up to 3,000 people for 30 years have been dismantled , giving the natural vegetation a chance to grow again. Photo: ERIC FEFERBERG / AFP
Bainimarama said Pacific islanders considered themselves the custodians of the vast blue Pacific Ocean.
"The Pacific Ocean defines who we are; it serves as the foundation of our economies, our environment, and the well-being of our communities," he said.
"We have a vision that the blue Pacific Ocean will become an ocean of peace and prosperity for our people and the world."
Bainimarama said protecting the blue Pacific continent was of paramount importance to the islanders' future.
He said it could only become an ocean of peace if it was nuclear-free.
He said stopping the development of nuclear weapons and eliminating them altogether would free up much-needed global resources to assist vulnerable communities, and those around the world, in fighting the effects of climate change.
"The world does not need nuclear weapons," Bainimarama said.
Fiji Prime Minister Frank Bainimarama. Photo: AFP
"The challenges of nuclear disarmament can only be resolved by a strengthened multilateral system that sets the conditions for transparency, confidence-building, and co-operation."
The Fijian leader said the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW) were crucial if Pacific islands, which he refers to as PSIDS, were to further reduce and eliminate nuclear weapons.
"Today, we PSIDS say no to nuclear weapons and we reiterate our commitment to the elimination of nuclear weapons everywhere," Bainimarama said.
"We encourage member states to ratify the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty (CTBT) and the Treaty on the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW).
"It is morally right, and we owe it to ourselves and our future generations."
The Runit Dome was constructed on Marshall Islands Enewetak Atoll in 1979 to temporarily store radioactive waste produced from nuclear testing by the US military during the 1950s and 1960s. Photo: Supplied
The Fijian leader presented a joint statement to the UN Assembly from the PSIDS' members including the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM), Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, Marshall Islands, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.
Bainimarama said their statement was also aligned with the message sent by the Tuvalu Mission at the UN on behalf of the Pacific Islands Forum.
The online event was hosted by UN President Tijjani Muhammad-Bande from Nigeria.