IN HONOR OF “TEKEROY” by Joanne Dufour
The group of 30 residents of Christmas Island shouted with enthusiasm, “Tekeroy (Hurray for Peace)!” This was their response to the proposal for a Justice Peace Center, made by a visiting team from Nuclear Age Peace Foundation (NAPF). Christmas Island is part of the Republic of Kiribati, and the site of 34 nuclear weapons tests.
It was a privilege to be part of the 3 person NAPF team with Christian Ciobanu and Solomon Islander Maverick Peter, as we visited a range of offices in our 13 day trip to Kiribati in late March/April, 2026. We met with the Ambassador of New Zealand, UN Ambassador and former President of Kirabati Teburoro Tito, religious leaders of three religions including the head of their interfaith group, government ministers, and university faculty and students
All of these groups were familiar with the history of Kiribati when it came to nuclear testing. This Pacific nation on the confluence of the International Date Line and the Equator became a colony of the United Kingdom in 1892. During the cold war of the 1950s and 60s, Christmas Island with its 500 residents was chosen as the site to test 9 hydrogen weapons. 34,000 military personnel were involved as well from UK, Fiji and New Zealand. After the US discontinued its nuclear weapons tests in the Marshall Islands, it began testing on Christmas Island. The US conducted 24 tests before creation of the Test Ban Treaty in 1962. In 1979 the UK granted independence to Kiribati. The US chose a Friendship Agreement but never established diplomatic arrangements with the country, so there is no US embassy in their country nor a Kiribati embassy in Washington DC. There was an Agency for International Development presence in Kiribati, but that no longer exists.
The effects of the tests on the people and the environment of Christmas Island and surrounding areas has never been accurately acknowledged. The results of tests done by the UK (currently classified) for radioactive fallout and health effects to military and civilian populations have been challenged. The NAPF is calling for an independent investigation of radiation effects on the population and the environment in keeping with Articles 6 and 7 of the Treaty for the Prohibition of Nuclear Weapons (TPNW), which Kiribati signed and ratified in 2019, as one of the fifty countries needed to bring the treaty into force. These articles call for attention and remuneration though an authorized Trust Fund. The proposed Justice Peace Center would monitor this process.
NAPF had already sponsored a Kiribati survivor who spoke at the United Nations Third Meeting of State Parties to the TPNW in 2025, and hopes to have more such voices at the UN subsequent meetings.
More information about the work of NAPF is available at napf.org. Their work with the youth from impacted test areas can be found at Reverse the Trend (rttreversingthetrend.org) the program directed by Christian Ciobanu.
The photo taken by Joanne Dufour was of the group at the end of their meeting with the team on April 1st, 2026.