Evacuees of A-test atoll suing US over UN terms

The displaced people of Bikini, the Pacific atoll used for nuclear tests after World War II, are suing the United States for injuries to themselves, damage to their islands, and the "failure" of the US government to fulfill its obligations as trustees for the Bikinians under the United Nations, the New York Times reports.

A $450 million class-action suit is to be filed today (March 16) in the US Court of Claims here. The suit is filed on behalf of the Bikinians who were relocated in 1956 and their subsequent descendants, about 1,000 people in all. Although the Bikinians began returning to their homeland in June 1969, they were told they would have to leave again after surveys taken in 1978 indicated that the islands in the atoll would not be habitable for 20 to 60 years.