The plight of the Marshallese

[Miulang]

Since I brought this situation up in a discussion about Guam, I thought maybe it deserved its own thread, simply because many people are not aware of the plight of the people who inhabit the Marshall Islands (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marshall_Islands).

In 1979 the Government of the Marshall Islands was officially established and the country became self-governing. In 1986 the Compact of Free Association with the United States entered into force, granting the Republic of the Marshall Islands (RMI) its sovereignty. The Compact provided for aid and U.S. defense of the islands in exchange for continued U.S. military use of the missile testing range at Kwajalein Atoll. The independence was formally completed under international law in 1990, when the UN officially ended the Trusteeship status.


Even though the Marshall Islands are an independent entity now, they are almost entirely dependent on handouts from the US government. Of all the Marshallese populations, the people of Bikini Atoll have by far the most tragic tale: one in which they were given false promises by the US government of being able to return home after the nuclear tests conducted on their island, where millions of dollars worth of reparations (http://www.bikiniatoll.com/repar.html) for their displacement and for restoring Bikini Atoll to a habitable state have been stalled. The most tragic part of it is even though many of the Bikinians have moved to other parts of the Marshall Islands, due to the lack of economic opportunities, a colony of Bikinians are now living in Arkansas (http://www.ardemgaz.com/ads/mi/), the largest group living outside the Marshall Islands. For them, the cultural shock must be horrendous...their hearts torn from their homelands.

Miulang

[Miulang]

Here is the story (http://www.ardemgaz.com/ads/mi/articles/paradise.html) about the odyssey of the Bikinians to Springdale, Arkansas--home of a Tyson chicken processing plant--a place of opportunity and new hope but also a place to mourn the lives they left behind.

Miulang

[Miulang]

To show their unity with the people of the Marshall Islands who, like the kanaka maoli, have lost land to the US government and who have not seen their land restored to its original state, the crew of Hokule'a (http://starbulletin.com/2007/02/21/news/story03.html) presented the Sen. of the Marshall Islands and Bikini Atoll with ho'okupu, including a piece of coral from Kaho'olawe and a book describing the efforts of the Protect Kaho'olawe Ohana to restore their island.

Juda, who was forced to leave Bikini when he was 4 because the United States wanted to use the atoll for nuclear tests, said he understands how it feels when an island is lost because of military use, such as Kahoolawe.

"We have the same problems they have," Juda said. "We really feel sorry for them. I think the United States government is wrong. Every time the military use lands, they should do the clearing."

Atwood Makanani, an Ohana member and also a member of the Hokule'a crew, said he hoped the ceremony would deepen the world's understanding of the plight of Pacific peoples who have suffered the brunt of military tests.

He said he also hoped it would help to bring about some healing for Bikinians to know they are not alone in their quest to one day return to their atoll.

At least 167 Bikinians in the Marshall Islands were forced to leave their atoll in 1946, as the United States prepared to use their homeland for 23 atomic and hydrogen bomb tests.

After a limited cleanup, some of the Bikinians returned to the atoll in the early 1970s but were removed after medical officials found the land was contaminated with radioactive cesium-137, strontium-90 and plutonium. Bikini has a lagoon area of about 240 square miles with 25 islands and a dry-land area of 2.94 square miles.



Miulang

[Kahalu'u Kid]

That's so sad. Especially since I have lotsa Marshallese friends. America and Japan were the two main countries who screwed up most of the islands in the South Pacific, waging wars on islands that had nothing to do with the conflict.

[mapen]

Miulang, you are a dim bulb. Did you read the article?

The reason the Marshallese are fleeing the Marshall Islands to places like Arkansas has little if nothing to do with the US Government.

The reason the Marshallese are moving to places like Arkansas is because the ruling class of chiefs on the Marshall Islands, called the iroij, own all the land. All the people under them are expected to give them gifts, money, and food (ie bribes) in order to win favors and pay the rent for the land they live on. All land is owned and rented out by these chiefs to their people.

The chiefs have done such a poor job of ruling the islands that in the last 10 years there have been only 85 new jobs created, but over 3000 more Marshallese looking for work.

The population is exploding and the Marshall Islands cannot sustain them.

The US Government did not cause overpopulation, and the US Government did not have a hand in the misgoverning of the islands by the ruling chief class.

[timkona]

Nice to read your post Mapen. Sometimes the spin in here is fierce.

[Leo Lakio]

Miulang, you are a dim bulb.
Nice to read your post Mapen.Coulda been said without the insult, though. The opening tone infects the remainder of the message.

[timkona]

Why include me? What's up Leo? You gotta admit that Miulang's post was quite spinny. Not untruthful, just spun up a little. As if to say that royal ownership of all the lands is a good thing for the common people. That would be the spin applied so as to preserve the sanctity of ancient Hawaii. Or as if to say that the US invaded islands without Japanese provocation. That would be the spin applied to paint the US as the bad guy in WWII. The "Hate America" crowd has been conditioned for years to think the way they do.

The raw truth is that catching fish and growing some veggies is the most common occupation. Now give some of your veggies to the lazy fat man with the feather cape.

Seeing the forest AND the trees simultaneously.

[Leo Lakio]

Sorry, Tim - it was your first sentence that was appropriately quoted. It is nice to read opposing points of view on HT, spin or otherwise. Didn't mean to imply that you had insulted her. Edited the post.

[mapen]

I have read so many of Miulang's posts without replying before that my bulb comment was something of a release after reading so much of her incessant propaganda on these forums.

The Marshallese I know blame their chiefs for their problems, not the US government. They like the US Government because of the welfare benefits. The Marshallese I know have lots of children, the better for them to get more benefits from the US government.

I've done taxes for some Marshallese and it's amazing how many questionable dependent (child) SSNs they come up with to claim on their taxes so they can get a bigger refund and and claim more free money credits.

The US Government gives them more benefits and opportunities and treats them better than their chiefs do.

[Miulang]

The reason the Marshallese are moving to places like Arkansas is because the ruling class of chiefs on the Marshall Islands, called the iroij, own all the land.
The US government is doing exactly the same thing to the Marshallese (https://cia.gov/cia//publications/factbook/geos/rm.html#Econ) that they have done to the Puerto Ricans (http://welcome.topuertorico.org/economy.shtml). Rather than just giving the people handouts for renting Kwajalein (http://archives.pireport.org/archive/2005/October/10-12-com.htm) (the Marshallese government gets about 50-70% of its income in the form of US government subsidies), why aren't we doing more to help them create new jobs? Help their leaders develop more economic opportunities for their people rather than perpetuating a welfare state? (Tourism appears to be a nascent, but growing industry).

The Republic of the Marshall Islands is a fairly new democracy that has only been in place since 1990, when the UN gave up its trusteeship. The Republic's current constitution is a combination of traditional and more modern principles: the legal government is comprised of a legislative body called the Nitijela (Parliament) who are elected to their positions every 4 years, and an "unofficial" body of 12 called the Council of Iroij who are selected from among the tribal leaders. They have no official role in the day to day operation of the RMI government, but they are called on in cases where there are land disputes or other tribal problems. Over time, their influence will continue to diminish. Prior to the institution of the Constitution and the establishment of the Republic, it is true that there was lots of corruption and graft by the irioj, but their influence has been overshadowed by the existence of this Parliamentary government and its efforts at transparency. It is also true that most land is customarily owned by tribal families (much like Hawai'i used to be) and if you are not a current landowner, about the only way you can use the land is via leases, which is not necessarily a bad thing.

From the Marshallese Constitution:

Land in the Republic of the Marshall Islands is limited in its extent and is almost entirely customarily owned. Non-citizen investors wishing to access land for development must negotiate lease agreements directly with customary groups, or in the case of alienated land, with Marshallese citizens that own the land. The Government does not impose any restrictions on the term of a lease. Annual lease rates are negotiated between the parties based on prevailing market conditions.
In recognition of the complexities of customary land ownership in the country
and the difficulties for investors to acquire land for investment purposes, the
Government established a Land Registration Authority in March 2003. The
Authority will:
§ create a voluntary register of customary land;
§ establish an effective legal framework for recording all documents related to land, and registering ownership rights, leases, easements and mortgages;
§ create a standard land lease agreement that can be used by interested parties.
In addition, the Government has expanded the land interests that may be
mortgaged to include the ownership interest in land, as well leaseholds.
Opportunities to expand the amount of available land in the country also exist.
This can be achieved through land reclamation. The Government is interested in pursuing this course of action and is exploring ways this can be done.

I never said the US government caused the exploding populations in the Marshall Islands. I just cited what has happened to the Bikinians and how we took over the island without "doing right" by the people who were displaced. We owe them hundreds of millions of dollars.

Here's a forum (http://www.yokwe.net/index.php?module=pnForum&func=viewtopic&topic=52) devoted to the Marshallese: they have some concerns about the continued use of Kwajalein Atoll by the US government.

Miulang

[timkona]

To hear Miulang embrace feudalism is not surprising at all.

[Miulang]

To hear Miulang embrace feudalism is not surprising at all.
Not feudalism, TK, INDIGENOUS PEOPLES RIGHTS.;)

Miulang

[PoiBoy]

Miulang, you are a dim bulb. Did you read the article?

The reason the Marshallese are fleeing the Marshall Islands to places like Arkansas has little if nothing to do with the US Government.

The reason the Marshallese are moving to places like Arkansas is because the ruling class of chiefs on the Marshall Islands, called the iroij, own all the land. All the people under them are expected to give them gifts, money, and food (ie bribes) in order to win favors and pay the rent for the land they live on. All land is owned and rented out by these chiefs to their people.

The chiefs have done such a poor job of ruling the islands that in the last 10 years there have been only 85 new jobs created, but over 3000 more Marshallese looking for work.

The population is exploding and the Marshall Islands cannot sustain them.

The US Government did not cause overpopulation, and the US Government did not have a hand in the misgoverning of the islands by the ruling chief class.

Did you read the article? :rolleyes: Do you study history? :rolleyes:

Why do Marshallese need jobs when they can live off the land and sea? How have the Marshallese survived for thousands of years? Why all of a sudden a population boom?

[mapen]

Miulang, there is no consistency in your ideas. Your thinking reminds me of bipolar women on prozac.

On the one hand you want the US Government to get the hell out of Hawaii and the Marshall Islands.

And now you say "why doesn't the US do more to fix the Marshallese economy and help the ruling chiefs create more jobs?" Do you realise the conflict in your thinking? You will take whatever position puts the blame on the US Government, no matter how much conflict and inconsistency there is in your ideas.

[mapen]

Why do Marshallese need jobs when they can live off the land and sea? How have the Marshallese survived for thousands of years? Why all of a sudden a population boom?Poiboy, I completely understand what you are staying. But what you don't understand or don't want to understand is the Marshallese would rather have a job and live in a house and buy a can of Spam at the market, rather than fish and live off the sea and live in simple shack.

[Miulang]

Miulang, there is no consistency in your ideas. Your thinking reminds me of bipolar women on prozac.

On the one hand you want the US Government to get the hell out of Hawaii and the Marshall Islands.

And now you say "why doesn't the US do more to fix the Marshallese economy and help the ruling chiefs create more jobs?" Do you realise the conflict in your thinking? You will take whatever position puts the blame on the US Government, no matter how much conflict and inconsistency there is in your ideas.
The subsidies from the US government are supposed to end in 2023 (then there will be a permanent trust fund set up); the Marshallese government has to get up to speed and on its feet between now and then. Keeping the people on welfare is not a way to help them progress. We are the ones who supposedly have the business savvy that can help them get on their feet. All I'm suggesting is that we should be doing more along those lines between now and 2023. And I don't think my statements are in conflict at all. The US government (the military) has messed up big time in Puerto Rico, Hawai'i, the Philippines, practically everywhere we've decided to stake our claim. It's time to start fixing what we broke, to take some responsibility for that. And I didn't say help the irioj; I said help the GOVERNMENT (the Nitijela) develop an economic growth package. I'm sure the irioj would rather keep their people subjugated, but they really have no legal say in the government today.

Knowing that no other country willingly would allow the US government to take any more of its land for testing purposes, do you think the US will leave Kwajalein when the current agreement ends? I doubt it. And that's why some Marshallese natives are really upset. Fulfilling our current obligations to which we agreed by treaty apparently is not one of the US's strongest suits. All the Marshallese have to do is look at what happened to the Bikinians and their efforts to secure reparations and they kind of suspect that they will be headed down the same path themselves.

Miulang

P.S. One of the reasons why I think the US won't help with economic development is because they don't see what's in it for them, since no foreigners can own land (unless that changes in the Constitution). Land ownership issues are always the biggest bone of contention between indigenous people and outsiders.

[mapen]

The US Government is not "keeping the Marshallese on welfare". We are giving them aid. The US Government is not repressing the governing bodies of the Marshall Islands from providing for their people and pursueing the better welfare of its peoples.

The failures we see in the Marshall Islands are a failure of its people to rise up and be something better.

But instead the Marshallese are only interested in exploiting all the free money and benefits they can get from the USA. And that is why the military base on Kwajalein is still there- because they want to profit from it.

It is not the job of the US Govt to build a prosperous economy for the Marshall Islands. It is up to the Marshallese to choose their fate. If they so choose, they could send their brightest abroad to study options, or invite experts in to advise them.

The US Government did not, as you put it, "mess up big time" in Hawaii and the Phillipines. For example, the lease on US bases in the Phillipines ended. The Filipino govt did not want to renew the leases. So we left. What's the problem?

The people of Hawaii enjoy a standard of living that is admired and envied by most Marshellese. How is the Hawaii economy "messed up" vis a vis the Marshallese economy?

[Miulang]

This is a Marshallese perception (http://archives.pireport.org/archive/2005/October/10-12-com.htm)of what the US government has done to its people (in a letter from Iroijlaplap Imata Kabua [who is also former President of the Marshall Islands] to US Ambassador to the Marshall Islands Greta Morris in response to some public statements Amb. Morris made with regards to the continued use of Kwajalein Island by the US):

Our Constitution prohibits the taking of land without the consent of the owners of the land and fair compensation. The RMI government owns no land. For the legitimate use of Kwajalein beyond 2016, a Land Use Agreement between RMI and the people of Kwajalein is required by law and by the Constitution. No such agreement exists and we have proclaimed our intention not to agree to a new one and to return to our lands in 2016. Your condescending public statements ignoring that reality go beyond acceptable standards of international relations and, to us, reflect systematic taunting on the part of a powerful partner bullying a less powerful one. So pervasive is your attitude among other American representatives in our country that now an army colonel on temporary duty to oversee housekeeping chores there calls Kwajalein "my island!"

You have never missed an opportunity to state that you have the right to use of Kwajalein beyond the life of the lease under which you now occupy our lands. Is it your position and that of your government that you will ignore the laws and Constitution of our land and take Kwajalein without the owners consent? Is it your position and that of your government that you will simply deny the existence of our Constitution and take land which belongs neither to you nor the government of the RMI, because that is what you were promised by people who have no rights to those lands?

Knowing that the RMI possesses no rights to land in Kwajalein, yet claiming you have the right to remain there beyond 2016 is a remarkable display of colonial audacity. It is one thing to dress up Compact II as a guarantee of Kwajalein use rights when you needed to get this lopsided agreement through your own Congressional approval processes. We were surprised to find even the venerable Heritage Foundation a part of this gross misrepresentation of facts. If your government negotiators found it useful for their own purposes to be duplicitous with their own Congress in the presentation of Compact II, that is your business. But riding roughshod over our own Marshallese Constitutional processes, to force that injustice upon our people is outrageous!

...Make no mistake about our physical and spiritual ties to our lands. Our forefathers fought and died to provide us with this peaceful home, sovereign and free. Our right to live here peacefully and to pass it on to our heirs, whole and intact, is a fundamental right you and your government cannot take away. We have been your friends for the longest time in spite of the outrageous things your government has done to us. But there comes a time when even friends must draw the line.


The RMI wants Kwajalein back after 2016.

Miulang

[mapen]

Our Constitution prohibits the taking of land without the consent of the owners of the land and fair compensation. ... a Land Use Agreement between RMI and the people of Kawajlein is required by law and by the ConstitutionNo, they want even more money.

Mapen

[Miulang]

No, they want even more money.

Mapen
You conveniently left out the next sentence, which is the key (as it was for the Philippines and Okinawa):
No such agreement exists and we have proclaimed our intention not to agree to a new one and to return to our lands in 2016

Can they hold Kwajalein over our heads for ransom? Sure. But my guess is they think they could do better by taking the land back and leasing it to some other entity.

Miulang

[Miulang]

The people of Hawaii enjoy a standard of living that is admired and envied by most Marshellese. How is the Hawaii economy "messed up" vis a vis the Marshallese economy?
Hawai'i's economy isn't messed up, but Kaho'olawe still is. The Navy took the sacred land, bombed the beejeezus out of it, and then only made a half-hearted attempt to rehabilitate it (most of the island is still too dangerous to walk on because of all the unexploded ordnance). Bikini Atoll is STILL radioactive even though the DoD was ordered to decontaminate it and we are supposed to pay reparations to the people who were displaced. The Philippines decided not to renew the lease of the Navy. Same thing the Republic of the Marshall Islands and Okinawa want.

What they do with their land is up to them, not us. If they want to let Sheraton come in and build a megaresort on Kwajalein, that's their prerogative. RMI is a free and sovereign nation, and they can do business with whomever they wish, without getting prior approval from us.

Miulang

P.S. this is why the Philippines decided not to renew its lease agreement with the US for Subic Bay (http://www.preda.org/archives/history/sbhis08.htm)(even though Philippine President Aquino wanted to extend the lease):The Military Bases Agreement of 1947 expired on September 16th. Months of intense negotiations between the Philippine and U.S. governments had taken place and had resulted in the Treaty of Friendship, Peace and Cooperation.

The Philippine Senate voted on the Treaty on September 13, 1991, and voted for rejection. The Senators cited a number of reasons for the rejection but most centered on throwing off the "last vestige of American colonialism", Subic Bay Naval Station -

The Aquino administration was strongly pro-treaty and called for a referendum by the Philippine people, a move the 4nti-bases forces declared unconstitutional.

During the first week of October, a compromise was reached - the U.S. would have 3 years to withdraw from the naval base.

[PoiBoy]

MARSHALLS TRIBUNAL AWARDS NUKE VICTIMS $1 BILLION
By Giff Johnson
MAJURO, Marshall Islands (Marianas Variety, April 19) – A group of Marshall islanders exposed to high-level nuclear test fallout were awarded more than US$1 billion in compensation Tuesday by a special tribunal but are not likely to receive even US$1 in compensation.
The Marshall Islands-based Nuclear Claims Tribunal, which issued the ruling Tuesday, has virtually no funding to pay the award and has labeled United States-provided compensation "manifestly inadequate."
The Tribunal, which since 1991 has annually paid personal injury claims of islanders, halted these payments in 2006 for lack of money.
A Tribunal official said the compensation trust fund provided by the U.S. has dropped from its original 1986 amount of US$150 million to just US$1 million, and is expected to be exhausted by administrative costs to operate the Tribunal next year.

"Although the people were assured that it was safe to return to Rongelap in 1957 (after a three year evacuation following Bravo), it was evident that the U.S. knew Rongelap was still contaminated at that time," Tribunal judges James Plasman and Gregory Danz, both Americans, said in their ruling.



The judges said that the people "came to feel like guinea pigs, used for experimentation by the U.S."

whole article
http://pidp.eastwestcenter.org/pireport/2007/April/04-19-01.htm

[Miulang]

The outcome is sad, and sadly predictable. It's another example of the arrogance of our government in believing that only certain treaties and agreements need to be honored, while others can be conveniently ignored.

We can ignore the plight of a group of people whose ancestral homelands we comandeered, destroyed and made unusable in perpetuity and not compensate them for their losses because, after all, they only number a couple of thousand. Meanwhile, the State Dept. sends millions of dollars abroad to political resistance groups to "help spread democracy."

First the Native Americans, then the kanaka maoli, now the Marshallese. How many more indigenous groups have to suffer at the hands of this government (and I'm talking about the federal government, not one administration in particular)?

Miulang