Individual security in India is at stake as the French ship Clemenceau proceeds to India. Greenpeace and three other environmentalist groups filed a case in a French court to block transfer of the ship to India. Their opposition was on the grounds that Indian shipyard workers are not properly protected from the hazards of working with asbestos, which can cause fatal lung diseases. However, Greenpeace eventually lost the case as the French government successfully convinced the court that the ship was not hazardous while floating on the seas, hence it was not violating the Basel Convention which bans trade in hazardous materials like asbestos.

On 31 December 2005, the decommissioned warship began its final voyage to an Indian breakers yard after the French court held that there were "no serious doubts" about the legality of its transfer. Built in the 1950s, Clemenceau contains more than normal levels of blue asbestos, a known carcinogenic agent that was used in the 1950s and 60s as an insulator and is now being phased out. After being decommissioned in 1997, it had been sent to Turkey, from where it had to be recalled. Talks with Greece failed and plans to convert it into an artificial reef were turned down. India, having one of the four surviving ship-breaking yards, became their final choice. The amount of asbestos on the ship is contested, ranging from 50-500 tonnes, and France is being tight-lipped about it.

The carcinogenic effects of asbestos-exposure causes the most painful form of lung cancer called mesothelioma-asbestos which obtains in India due tp asbestos usage in various ways and even in domestic appliances. There are 40 countries that have banned its use and manufacture. Out of two types of asbestos (white and blue) depending on its fibres, blue has been banned in India since 1995. Studies by the US and Europeans have confirmed 30 deaths per day due to exposure to white asbestos. The irony is that customs duty on asbestos was reduced to 15 per cent from 78 per cent in 1995-96, though the WTO favours the 'safe use' of asbestos.

Earlier, the French company Technopure was contracted to decontaminate the ship. Later, the Ship Decommissioning Industry Corporation (SDIC), a Panama-registered private company, was entrusted with the task. Two officials of the company have come to inform the Monitoring Committee constituted by the Supreme Court of India about the size of the ship, its structure, and the fact that had a vast amount of cabling containing asbestos since it had been specially built. They said their company had only partially decontaminated the ship. According to their estimates, the ship still contained at least 500 tonnes of asbestos. According to Shree Ram Scrap Vessels Pvt. Ltd., which is to dismantle the ship, the French government had promised to remove 98 per cent of the asbestos on board and roughly between 15 tonnes to 25 tonnes was expected to remain when the ship reached India. However, the pertinent question continues: why India should accept such large quantities of toxic waste on its soil?

Despite the Supreme Court's directions to regulate and monitor the trade in health hazardous substances, the Rs 2000 crore asbestos industries have no regulatory apparatus in place. There are no records as to how many are suffering from asbestos-related illnesses. According to A.K. Sethi, President of the Asbestos Cement Products Manufacturers Association, white asbestos is safe because it is mixed with cement in a wet process. The WTO panel was not convinced and remarked, "When asbestos cement is used for occupational or domestic purposes, it is usually sanded, crushed or sawn, thus, releasing its carcinogenic fibres into the environment in the form of dust." Nearly 1.5 lakh tonnes of asbestos come to India every year. Canada alone exports nearly 90 per cent of its asbestos - an estimated one lakh tonnes - to India each year. The issue of the French warship has proved a blessing in disguise as it has opened this debate and corrective action in this regard by the judiciary.

France is a signatory to the Basel Convention of 1989, which bans the trans-boundary movement of hazardous wastes. France expressed its stand that its regulations do not apply to "war material", which was reiterated by French courts. A warship is a container like any other container. What is important is its potential to pollute and threaten life and security. Consequently, it should not be allowed to enter India. The Monitoring Committee established by the Supreme Court has also supported this view. The final decision should take into account the individual's rights to health security and environment. This incident reflects disrespect for the human security of developing countries by the developed ones.