Niger: Mining protestors squat French hq in Niamey

A Dakar based corespondent for Kenya’s Nation paper reports says that Nigerien activists have set up camp at French government uranium miners AREVA‘s Niamey offices. There is as of yet no independent confirmation of this, or if they are occupying the offices. The name given in the report is “Areva ne fera pas la loi au Niger” (“Aveva is not the law of Niger”) This same slogan is used by Tuareg activists of the Tchinaghen collective of Agadez, as well as French anti-neocolonial campaigners Suivre. Activists have long tried to draw attention to the horrible radioactive pollution, the awful working conditions, and the neocolonial exploitation of the huge open pit mines in the Arlit area of the Nigerien Sahara. These provide %40 of the fuel for France’s nuclear power industry, upon which they are dependent for electricity.

See these websites for more on activism against the French exploitation of Niger’s resources:

http://www.tchinaghen.org/
http://areva.niger.free.fr/
http://www.survie-paris.org/

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