Arab News Japan

TOKYO: About 60 victims of the Fukushima nuclear disaster met parliamentarians from various Japanese political parties, including the governing Liberal Democratic Party and Komeito, on Thursday to ask them to commit to halting the restart of nuclear power plants and to support them in ongoing lawsuits.

 The citizens from the Fukushima region were seen on an individual basis in the offices of various parliamentarians to submit demands for compensation and to elicit support in ongoing and future lawsuits against the plant operator Tokyo Electric Power Company (TEPCO).

They were also protesting the discharge of contaminated water into the sea from the Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant that blew up after being hit by a tsunami 11 years ago.

The Constitutional Democratic Party’s Tomoko Abe, Mizuho Fukushima of the Social Democratic Party, Taro Yamamoto the leader of Reiwa Shinsengumi, and three Japan Communist Party politicians supported the plaintiffs.

Abe said that politicians from the governing party still had not learned the lessons of Fukushima and said that voices from the region should continue to be heard.

The victims of the nuclear disaster, many of whom lost their homes or livelihoods, continue to fight for recognition of their problems by the government.