Fukushima evacuees denied refuge and medical treatment over radiation fears

Child being scanned for radioactivity contamination in the very first days of the Fukushima nuclear catastropheThe Telegraph of London has reported that refugees (including children) from the evacuation surrounding the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear power plant are being denied entry into emergency shelters, as well as medical treatment, due to fears of providers over the radioactivity "contagion" they may carry. This is reminiscent not only of the experiences suffered by Hibakusha (Japanese survivors of the 1945 atomic bombings of Hiroshima and Nagasaki by the U.S. military), but also by survivors of Chernobyl, who have long been ostracized, and prevented from gaining employment, housing, and even marriage partners. (Dr. Robert Gale, quoted in the article, went to Moscow in the aftermath of Chernobyl to provide bone marrow transfusions for the firefighters stricken by radiation poisoning; he later authored the book Final Warning about his Chernobyl experiences.)