The Bikini Islanders is seeking compensation under the Fifth Amendment for the “many resultant indignities they suffered, from the loss of their homes and livelihoods to the horrific effects of radiation poisoning.”
Between 1946 and 1958, the United States detonated 67 nuclear bombs in the Marshall Islands, then a U.S. protectorate under the United Nations. The blasts was equal to exploding 1.6 Hiroshima atomic bombs every day for 12 years. The islands most directly affected were Enewetak and Bikini.The name "Bikini" was later used to represent the shocking and scandalous swimwear we now all love.
In 1986 the U.S. Congress established a $150 million trust fund to help compensate former residents of Enewetak and Bikini. In exchange for the money, the plaintiffs agreed not to bring suits against the federal government. But they never actually PAID them the money, resulting in another trial years later.
In a 2001 settlement, the government agreed to pay the groups far more than that, promising the people of Enewetak $385 million and the people of Bikini $563 million for the loss of their land.
But again they have yet to receive anything more than a token payment, not the full amount.
In 2008 the United States Court of Federal Claims, dismissed the suit saying the Bikinis had missed the 6-year statute of limitations and that they had filed too early because Congress could still act and give them money.
So... they waited too long, but acted too early. Huh?
In other words the United States government is so cheap they're using a legal loophole so they don't have to pay up.
Shocked? I'm not. The U.S. government is a bunch of cheap bastards with no intelligence or honour whatsoever. They took an island paradise and destroyed it.
