* Representatives of Many Countries Participated

in the Social Forum Organized in Helsinki

By Dayamani Barla

A Social Forum was organized in Helsinki from 21 to 27 April. Representatives from many countries participated in this. Seminars on eight to ten topics were organized each day. The main points for discussion were the forests, elected officials; people displaced by mining operations; geological debt; tribal communities and forests; uranium mines and radiation; and uranium mining and nuclear power plants.

* Representatives of Many Countries Participated in the Social Forum Organized in Helsinki

Translation of “helsinki mein aayojit social forum mein kayi deshon ke pratinidhi shaamil hu-e”

Part 4 of Experiences in Helsinki

By Dayamani Barla

Prabhat Khabar – Desh Videsh

Ranchi, Friday, 25 May 2007.

 (Translation by Vidya Jonnalagadda)

It is said that the fishermen fish only during the night. A Social Forum was organized in Helsinki from 21 to 27 April. Representatives from many countries participated in this. Seminars on eight to ten topics were organized each day. The main points for discussion were the forests, elected officials; people displaced by mining operations; geological debt; tribal communities and forests; uranium mines and radiation; and uranium mining and nuclear power plants.

The topic of radiation was a hot topic in the seminar on uranium. All the representatives shed light on the ill effects of radiation on health and environment in their own regions, and emphatically stated that “We do not want any more uranium mines, and nor do we want nuclear power plants.” In the seminars on geological debt, tribals and forests, tribals and mining, and mining and displacement, the representatives stressed that the social, economic, and cultural systems of tribals rest on the forests, rivers, water and land. When a mine is dug, the forest slashed, and factories built on the land, the tribals get uprooted from their community, culture, and their economy that is based on the bounty of nature. That is why they have to oppose these destructive schemes.

A question that arose during the discussion on displacement due to mining was whether Finland was contributing to the mining in Chattisgarh by sending two Finnish machines for working the mines, and if these machines were depriving the local laborers of their livelihood.

On 26 April, a big public meeting was held in the Old Student House in Helsinki to discuss uranium mining, displacement, forest- and land- displacement. This meeting was attended by the Chief Secretary of Trade and Mining in Helsinki, members of Simenuppu, members of groups opposing the uranium mines in North Carolina, members of the nature and environment protection association of East Usami, members from the Citizens for Justice Forum from Malawi and France, representatives from Austria and Germany, as well as people from various regions of Finland.

(Concluded)