Seven Japanese atomic bomb survivors living in Brazil lodged a joint lawsuit Wednesday with the Hiroshima District Court, protesting the government's refusal to grant them health-care allowances.
The plaintiffs are seeking about 11 million yen in allowances under the Atomic Bomb Victims Relief Law. They claim they should not be denied these allowances because of their foreign residency status.
A similar suit was filed March 1 by 78-year-old Takashi Morita, the head of an association of A-bomb victims in Brazil.
According to the suit, one of the seven plaintiffs, 72-year-old Shunji Mukai, was drafted into the Imperial Japanese Army at the age of 15 and was exposed to radiation at an armory in Hiroshima when the atomic bomb was dropped on the city Aug. 6, 1945. He emigrated to Brazil in 1955.
Although Mukai received a health-care allowance for one month when he returned to Japan in June 1999, these payments were suspended after he left Japan again, according to the suit.
The six other plaintiffs were also exposed to radiation in Hiroshima and Nagasaki during the U.S. atomic bombings, but the government has refused to grant them health-care allowances as they have not been residents of Japan.
"Physically and economically, it is a big burden to go back to Japan for medical treatment," Mukai said.
"A-bomb survivors are A-bomb survivors regardless of where they are living.
"A-bomb victims living outside Japan should be treated equally."
The Health, Labor and Welfare Ministry estimates that some 5,000 A-bomb survivors live outside Japan.