Published: September 28, 2009 08:20 pm      

Marshallese president: Climate change real threat

PRINGDALE, Ark. — The president of the Marshall Islands said Monday that his nation is one of the "forefront victims" of climate change and called on the world to address a growing environmental disaster now forcing his citizens to higher ground.

President Litokwa Tomeing made the comments as he celebrated the opening of a Marshallese consulate in northwest Arkansas, the first such office for citizens in the mainland U.S. Tomeing said if not addressed, climate change could force even more citizens to move to other countries as rising ocean waters claims more of his country's atolls and small islands between Australia and Hawaii.

"Especially low-lying island nations, they are forefront victims of the consequences of climate change and the world, as of yet, has not agreed on some definitive actions," Tomeing said through an interpreter. "As you may be aware, not only the Marshallese are moving to higher ground in the United States, but other Pacific Islanders are also moving onto New Zealand and Australia."

About 64,000 Marshallese live on the island nation, a former U.S. territory. An estimated 6,000 now call northwest Arkansas home, drawn to jobs on chicken-processing plant lines, cutting meat away from bones for companies like Springdale-based Tyson Foods Inc. It is the largest Marshallese population living outside the North Pacific island chain.

A compact between the U.S. and the Marshall Islands allows for easy immigration for islanders coming to the mainland. The first Marshallese arrived in northwest Arkansas in the mid-1970s, though the recent explosion in the area's Hispanic population largely overshadowed their growing numbers.

Still, local schools and police departments struggle to find Marshallese interpreters to help them reach the community.

Foreign Minister John M. Silk said the consulate, led by Consul Carmen Chong Gum, will handle passport concerns and serve as a conduit between the Marshallese and the authorities.

"There have been some problems in the past and we're hoping this office will serve to alleviate, if not, minimize the problems in communication between our community and the community of Arkansas," Silk said. Also, it will "ease the transition of our citizens to a culture that's totally different from ours."

State health authorities also worry about the Marshallese not being covered by government medical programs and developing disease. In Hawaii, the state government tried to stop paying for chemotherapy and dialysis for some Marshallese residents, but later extended that benefit.

The Marshallese government says some of those cancer cases come as a direct result of nuclear bomb testing that the U.S. held in the island chain. The U.S. military detonated 67 nuclear weapons there from 1946 to 1958, allowing radioactive fallout to cloud the islands. Experts say that led to high rates of leukemia and thyroid, lung, stomach, skin and brain cancers.

Some of those cancer sufferers now live in northwest Arkansas and deserve compensation and care from the U.S. government, Tomeing said. The president added that seeking more money from the U.S. was a high priority for his administration.

"We're trying to achieve additional money for personal injury compensation ... and also for property damages," he said.