Tokyo-Sana
Residents of the Okinawa Archipelago in Japan expressed their dissatisfaction with the continued US military presence in the region, despite the passage of fifty years since the end of the occupation of the US forces.
According to the French press agency, the archipelago witnessed today the official celebrations of the fiftieth anniversary of the return of the Okinawa Archipelago to Japanese sovereignty, in the presence of Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida, in light of popular demonstrations denouncing the presence of the American bases where about 55 thousand soldiers are stationed.
The demonstrators pointed out that there is no sense in celebrating this anniversary except when the issue of the US bases is decided in a way that is satisfactory to the people of Okinawa.
This resentment is due to the environmental pollution caused by these bases and the dangers of helicopter crashes and attacks carried out by American soldiers against the population, as many incidents of rape and murder by them were recorded.
Residents' discontent exacerbated by the project to move the Futenma air base, which is considered the most dangerous base in the world, from its current location in Okinawa to the Henoko region in the north, while many stressed the need to permanently move the base to another place.
In 2019, more than 70 percent of respondents voted in a non-binding local referendum against its transfer to Henoko.
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