Around the globe, some seventy-five percent of uranium mining takes place on the lands of indigenous peoples. The largest uranium reserves are found in Canada and Australia; uranium is also mined throughout Latin America and in Kazakhstan, Niger, Russia, Namibia and Uzbekistan. Exploration for further uranium ore bodies is presently underway in Tanzania, Mali, and the Amazon region of Brazil.

The identities of indigenous peoples are strongly tied to their environment. Uranium mining adversely affects indigenous cultures by defiling sacred sites, contaminating local natural resources and by threatening the health of coming generations. Open pit uranium mining regularly contaminates water tables; tailings retain up to 80% of the original ore body’s radioactivity.
The most common fatal health effect is lung cancer (attributable to the radon released into the atmosphere during the mining and onsite milling processes). Nonrespiratory carcinogenic outcomes include leukemia, stomach cancer, liver cancer, cancer of the intestines, kidney cancer, and skin cancer. Regions hosting uranium mining exhibit collateral spikes of psychic disorders and genetic damage. 

Though the effects of uranium mining add up to a glaring violation of human rights, authorities and the media fail to take any serious notice.

This conference offered representatives of indigenous peoples endangered by uranium mining a distinguished European venue to tell their stories.  They took the opportunity to strengthen their action networks by meeting with politicians, members of NGOs, and, from around the globe, people struggling around the globe to end uranium mining exactly as they themselves are.

A "Talking Stick" helped make palpable the broad cultural diversity of the conference speakers. Whoever holds the stick had our ears, our attention. The conference was structured like a journey around the globe – Germany – Canada – USA – Australia - India– Namibia - Niger – South America – Russia. Experts acted as interpretive stewards along our travels by supplementing eyewitness accounts with results from the most recent scientific studies impacting the conference’s complex of themes:  uranium, radiation, health. 

Your,

Günter Baitsch, PSR / IPPNW Switzerland – Frank Uhe, IPPNW Germany - Claus Biegert, Nuclear Free Future Award – Günter Wippel, uranium-network – Christoph Wiedmer, GfbV Switzerland – James Albert, GfbV Germany – Helena Nyberg, Incomindios Switzerland