Touraeg exile demands accountability

Touareg leader, writer and poet, Issouf Maha, in exile in France, calls for accountability from the French government for the destruction of Touareg lives and livelihoods in Niger, where French government-owned nuclear corporation, Areva, has mined uranium for 40 years. Areva has now been awarded the contract to operate the giant Imouraren uranium mine in northern Niger, expected to be the largest uranium mine in Africa and scheduled to open in 2012. Watch the short Maha video (in French).

Battle for justice

In a front page story on December 15, 2008, The New York Times describes the Touareg struggle for justice in the face of a massive expansion of uranium mining on their grazing lands in northern Niger. 

The End of the Touareg?

Elizabeth Matz-Verret, an activist on behalf of the Touareg, writes that  the entire groundwater supply in Northern Niger could be depleted in 15-20 years and already observes the flight of the Touareg to the cities where starvation is setting in.