| Gloucestershire world textile artist Olivia Dell is offering peg doll making sessions with all proceeds donated to the Bhopal Medical Appeal.

The first session will take place on Saturday June 16th from 1.30- 5pm in Woodchester, near Stroud. The workshop will cost £10 which is inclusive of materials. The workshops are a wonderful way to spend the weekend and are suitable for all ages. Olivia, who has been a regular donor to the charity for some time, sold her previous collections of the peg dolls at Manchester Textile Fair where they went down a storm.
To book a place in the peg doll making session call Olivia on 01453 873653. To visit Olivia’s website visit olviadellworldtextiles.com

Please support The Bhopal Medical Appeal by staying in touch with us on Facebook or Twitter. You can also join us on YouTube and Flickr and if you want to support the work of our clinics you can visit our Donate page. Thanks!

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Moreover, US and Indian courts both continue to debate Dow’s liability for Bhopal, despite Dow’s claims to the contrary. The Indian government in 2010 filed a curative petition in an effort to secure once and for all just compensation for the victims from Dow, more than the meager amount allotted to them in the form of settlement with Union Carbide in 1989. Even if the settlement is upheld, as Dow feverishly hopes, there remain cases pending in US courts that challenge Dow’s responsibility for environmental remediation of the disaster site.
Dow and LOCOG, as well as some members of the British government, continue to deny that Bhopal is an issue, that instead all past grievances are in fact settled, and that Dow is a fit partner for the Summer Games. Dow repeatedly appeals to the 1989 settlement, and insists perversely that any further liability, e.g. for clean-up of the disaster site, rests with the Indian government. LOCOG likewise denies that Dow remains liable for Bhopal, even after it was presented evidence of Dow’s misdeeds and subterfuge by victims and solidarity groups, like the UK Bhopal Medical Appeal. Finally, Prime Minister David Cameron half-heartedly acknowledged the suffering of victims but declined to attribute it to Dow.

To the consternation of Dow and LOCOG both, however, Dow’s sponsorship elicited widespread condemnation in Britain and abroad, and continues to, from MP’s in Britain’s parliament, who, from across party lines, joined together to demand that Dow be dropped from the Olympics, and that an independent investigation be mounted as to why “a company whose name is inextricably linked with the worst chemical disaster in human history” was awarded a deal in the first place; and the Indian government, which vows to send no officials to any Olympic ceremonies; to Olympic athletes from across the world who formed “Athletes Against Dow Chemical’s Sponsorship,” and Meredith Alexander, a member of the Commission for a Sustainable London 2012, a committee that monitored the UK’s bid for the Olympics, who resigned in protest. Even Dow is concerned: appearances notwithstanding, recent Wikileaks reveal that Dow spied on and monitored Bhopal activists leading up to the Olympics.

ICJB North America stands with the victims of the Bhopal gas disaster, understood not as a tragedy but as a colossal act of ongoing malfeasance on the part of Union Carbide and Dow, and demands that LOCOG sever ties with Dow and apologize to the victims immediately.

Please support The Bhopal Medical Appeal by staying in touch with us on Facebook or Twitter. You can also join us on YouTube and Flickr and if you want to support the work of our clinics you can visit our Donate page. Thanks!

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Setting off from Greengairs landfill site

Eurig Scandrett undertook a 45 mile sponsored cycle tour of central Scotland on the 28th April, for and on behalf of The Bhopal Medical Appeal. Eurig is Convenor of Scottish friends of Bhopal, a project of The Bhopal Medical Appeal.

“Amongst raising funds and awareness for The BMA, we aim to highlight that the issues Bhopal raises are not unique to this community alone. Bhopalis represents environmental injustice everywhere. All the places listed on the tour that Eurig is cycling to in Scotland have a history of resistance to pollution and by cycling between them, Eurig hopes to emphasise the connection between these communities and to highlight the common issue of how pollution from industry and its toxic emissions effect us all” says Ingrid Neil, also from Scottish friends of Bhopal.

The cycle took place on 28th of April 2012 which is International Workers Memorial Day which commemorates all lives lost or injured in the workplace.

In Bathgate for Workers’ Memorial ceremony with Jim Swan of West Lothian TUC

Finishing at Grangemouth with Norman Philip of Falkirk Friends of the Earth

You can still sponsor Eurig via his JustGiving page here

Please support The Bhopal Medical Appeal by staying in touch with us on Facebook or Twitter. You can also join us on YouTube and Flickr and if you want to support the work of our clinics you can visit our Donate page. Thanks!

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A big thank you to everyone who completed the Brighton Marathon at the weekend on behalf of the BMA. A group of 17 ‘UniSus Bhopal Runners’ (staff and students from Sussex University) plus 10 runners from as far afield as the Isle of Wight, Plymouth, Liverpool and Ireland, completed the 26.2 mile course through Brighton, fundraising for the BMA.

For many of the runners it was their first time running a marathon, and their commitment is remarkable.

Money raised will contribute significantly to funding free treatment at Sambhavna and Chingari clinics. In addition, thanks to all of those who sponsored our runners with donations, and inspired them to persevere through their grueling training regime over the winter.

You can still sponsor the Bhopal Runners via JustGiving at: http://www.justgiving.com/Bhopal-Medical-Appeal-Runners

We have places left in the British 10K London Run, on Sunday July 8th, and we are recruiting now! We pay your entry fee, you get official chip timing and a personal race photograph, plus we give you a  Bhopal Medical Appeal t-shirt to run in. After the run we treat everybody to a cold beer and curry picnic in Hyde Park- which has now become a very popular tradition with our runners! All we ask is that you raise £250 in sponsorship.

Please email us for more information at: info@bhopal.org

Please support The Bhopal Medical Appeal by staying in touch with us on Facebook or Twitter. You can also join us on YouTube and Flickr and if you want to support the work of our clinics you can visit our Donate page. Thanks!

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Sanjay, standing inside the abandoned factory. He stands in front of a sign outlining what to do in case of chemical disaster.

Sanjay Verma was 6 months old at the time of the disaster. He lived with his parents, and eight brothers and sisters, in the slum bastee right opposite the disaster factory. Sanjay’s life was saved by his sister simply bundling him up in a cloth and running from their home, fleeing amongst the panic, after they smelled the escaping gas. Sanjay, his sister, and his 13 year old brother survived. His five other siblings and both of his parent died that night. Sanjay’s was the worst hit family in all of Bhopal.

Sanjay and his sister lived for a while in an orphanage and then, after 7 years, had to leave. Sunil, the oldest surviving brother, had to take two jobs to look after his younger brother and sister. Sunil suffered terrible mental health issues and, after several attempts on his own life, finally managed to commit suicide in 2006. He was found hanged, wearing a T-shirt with the slogan- ‘No More Bhopals’.

Confirmed Events- Sanjay’s Visit April/ May 2012

20th April, London, Olympic Stadium, 10,000 Days Anniversary, Press Interviews

23rd April , Edinburgh. Daytime- Bhopali screening and Q&A Queen Margaret University. 6.30pm- followed talk at Wordpower bookshop.

24th April, Edinburgh. Daytime- Meet politicians at launch of Hazards Campaign exhibition, Scottish Parliament. 6.30pm- Bhopali screening and Q&A, The Melting Pot, 5 Rose Street  Edinburgh,  EH2 2PR

25th April, Oxford.  Bhopali screening and Q&A at Oxford Brookes University, Fuller Building FH101, 6.30pm

26th April, Interview NuSound Radio 10.50am

26th April, Brighton, Bhopali screening and Q&A at University of Brighton, LT 1, Cockcroft Building, 5.00pm

27th April, London, Press Conference- Sanjay, Barry Gardiner, Meredith Alexander, Indian Journalists Association, India Club, 2nd Floor, Strand Continental Hotel, 143 Strand, WC2RA 1JA,  4.00pm

28th April, London. International Workers Memorial Day- Remember the dead- and fight for the living!  10.30am Assemble at the statue of the Building Worker on Tower Hill next to the Tower of London and Tower Bridge. 12.30pm Walthamstow Market., by the TV screen near the library

29th April, London, Bhopali Screening and Q&A, Courthouse Doubletree Hotel (private cinema) 19-21 Great Malborough Street, W1F 7HL, Time TBC

30th April, London.  Bhopali screening and Q&A at Colorama Cinema  527-56 Lancaster Street, SE1 7.30pm

1st May, London, Bhopali screening and Q&A at Amnesty International Human Rights Action Centre, EC2A 3EA, 6.30pm

2nd May, Oxford, Bhopali Screening and Q&A, Saskatchewan Room, Exeter College, Oxford University, Broad Street, 5.00pm

3rd May, London, Bhopali screening and Q&A at London School of Economics St Clements Building, Room 221, 6.00- 8.00pm

4th May, London, Bhopali screening and Q&A , The Barn 2, Hendon Campus,  Middlesex University 3-5.30pm, please RSVP to Christina Frandzis c.frandzis@mdx.ac.uk

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Please support The Bhopal Medical Appeal by staying in touch with us on Facebook or Twitter. You can also join us on YouTube and Flickr and if you want to support the work of our clinics you can visit our Donate page. Thanks!

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A parody about Dow Chemical’s 2012 London Olympic Sponsorship.

April 16th marked the 100 day countdown to the start of the London Olympics: 100 days for some of the world’s most disreputable corporations – such as Dow,  Rio Tinto and BP – to keep using the Olympics as a smokescreen for environmental and human rights abuses the world over. The list of Olympic Sponsors reads like a ‘rogues gallery’ of some of the most controversial corporations in the world. It makes you wonder if they included “how much pollution, turmoil and displacement has this company been responsible for?” as one of the selection criteria.

Meredith Alexander, the ex Olympic ‘Ethics Csar’ who stepped down over controversial sponsorship decisions, will be introducing members of communities impacted by Olympic sponsors all over the world, and we will be launching a new, participatory campaign to stop Dow, BP and Rio Tinto from winning at the 2012 Olympics.

Sponsored by Bhopal Medical Appeal, London Mining Network and UK Tar Sands Network.

You can visit the Greenwash Gold Campaign’s website here.

Please support The Bhopal Medical Appeal by staying in touch with us on Facebook or Twitter. You can also join us on YouTube and Flickr and if you want to support the work of our clinics you can visit our Donate page. Thanks!

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The Bhopal Medical Appeal has places available in the British 10K London Run, on Sunday July 8th, and we are recruiting now! This will be the fourth year we have entered runners in to this event and we’ve seen it go from strength to strength. It is possible to get fit AND raise money for a good cause and, if you think it might be for you, then we have everything you need.

It’s a fantastic route, taking in many of the most famous sites in central London. It starts at Hyde Park Corner and goes through Trafalgar Square, along the Embankment and back past the London Eye and Houses of Parliament, then finishes on Whitehall. In fact it follows part of what will be the Olympic Marathon course and takes place just a couple of weeks prior to that.

We pay your entry fee, you get official chip timing and a personal race photograph, plus we give you a  Bhopal Medical Appeal t-shirt to run in. After the run we treat everybody to a cold beer and curry picnic in Hyde Park- which has now become a very popular tradition with our runners! All we ask is that you raise £250 in sponsorship.

Please email us for more information at: info@bhopal.org

Click here for more information about the 10k run.

Please support The Bhopal Medical Appeal by staying in touch with us on Facebook or Twitter. You can also join us on YouTube and Flickr and if you want to support the work of our clinics you can visit our Donate page. Thanks!

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Green party representatives from around the world came together to ensure justice for Bhopal under a ‘polluter pays’ principle. They further agreed to hold Union Carbide and its current owner Dow Chemical accountable for Bhopal related liabilities, as well as oppose any association with Dow until the site is remediated, non-toxic water supplies ensured and medical care for those still suffering provided.

The Bhopal Resolution is outlined below:

MEP604 – Justice for Bhopal

UKPP India

{Whilst this resolution is a new one, it emerged from the discussion related to the nuclear resolution amendment and has been accepted after the deadline on that basis.}

Resolution: Global Greens urge for Justice for Bhopal to ensure a disaster free world

The 1984 Bhopal Gas Disaster – The world’s worst industrial disaster – has valuable lessons for the world. The disaster happened on the intervening night of 2-3^rd December 1984 when tonnes of toxic gases leaked out of a factory owned by an American Multinational Union Carbide Corporation.  The gas leak killed more than 3,000 people and left another 120,000 chronically ill in the first few days, which has now substantially increased. The disaster itself is far from over.  The compensation amount of $470 million, with $450 million levied from Union Carbide Corporation, was wholly inadequate. Shared by 600,000 victims, the compensation amounted roughly to $500 per victim for lifelong illness. Costs of environmental remediation, medical monitoring and rehabilitation, economic rehabilitation of the victims were not and have not been considered. While Dow Chemicals, current owner of Union Carbide refuses to accept any liability, the disaster continues in form of second generation effects, groundwater contamination, shoddy relief and rehabilitation measures, and an ever elusive justice.

We recognize that companies like Dow Chemicals have demonstrated disregard for all principles of environmentally sustainable practices, and equity and justice in several developing countries. Therefore, ensuring justice in Bhopal will resonate and strengthen the environmental justice and corporate accountability movements across the world.

We declare our support to the Bhopal survivors led movement for justice and corporate accountability and state our commitment to do all within our powers to ensure that a Bhopal like situation never happens again anywhere in the world. We strongly condemn any association with Dow Chemicals in wake of its Bhopal related liabilities. We urge International and National Olympics Committees to demonstrate their real commitment to environmental sustainability and peace by dissociating themselves from Dow. We strongly urge Indian and US government to act in the interest of victims by working together in upholding the rights of the victims, resolving all matters related to Bhopal liabilities and setting up a strong precedence for the internationally recognized “Polluter Pays” principle.

We want developmental policies to be drafted keeping in mind the rights of disaster victims, rather than the interests of the corporate perpetrators of such disasters.

In this context, Greens parties will work to:

1. Ensure justice for Bhopal and do all within our powers to make the polluter pay by holding Union Carbide and its current owner, Dow Chemicals, accountable for Bhopal related liabilities so that a strong precedence can be set for the future.

2. Oppose any association with Dow Chemicals until it agrees to correct the historical wrongs committed on the people of Bhopal by agreeing to pay – for cleaning up the site and local water supplies, for medical care for those still suffering as a result of the disaster, and for their continued disregard for both due legal process and the rights of Bhopal’s victims.

Tabled for vote with support from:

UKPP India

Australian Green party members

Green Civil society (Nepali Greens)

Civil Will Green Party of Mongolia

Nigeria Green Movement

Partido Kalikasan – Philippines    (Philippines Green Party)

Green Party of Canada

Green Party Brazil

Green Party of Kenya (Mwazingira)

Mongolian Green Party

Green party members from Japan

Green Party of Tunisia

Pakistan Green party members

German Green party members

Please support The Bhopal Medical Appeal by staying in touch with us on Facebook or Twitter. You can also join us on YouTube and Flickr and if you want to support the work of our clinics you can visit our Donate page. Thanks!

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“Amongst raising funds and awareness for The BMA, we aim to highlight that the issues Bhopal raises are not unique to this community alone. Bhopalis represents environmental injustice everywhere. All the places listed on the tour that Eurig is cycling to in Scotland have a history of resistance to pollution and by cycling between them, Eurig hopes to emphasise the connection between these communities and to highlight the common issue of how pollution from industry and its toxic emissions effect us all” says Ingrid Neil, also from Scottish friends of Bhopal.

The cycle takes place on 28th of April which is International Workers Memorial Day which commemorates all lives lost or injured in the workplace. Eurig is planning to cycle through Bathgate at 12.30 in order to join the West Lothian Workers Memorial Day event.

To sponsor Eurig please visit his JustGiving page here

or TEXT: UHSV66 £ (AMOUNT).

If you would like to know more details about the tour please contact@sfobhopal.org.

Please support The Bhopal Medical Appeal by staying in touch with us on Facebook or Twitter. You can also join us on YouTube and Flickr and if you want to support the work of our clinics you can visit our Donate page. Thanks!

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