Welcome to Demotix!

Homeland Lost - The Sahrarawi

Media Summary

'Homeland Lost' photographs refugees where they live today juxta-positioned against pictures of where they once lived. The images show the Saharawi diaspora in Spain and the camps in Tindouf, Western
in Politics, on the 17th of May 2009
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day?

The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

ID: 71135

Quick Actions:

More Info
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day?

The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

ID: 71133

Quick Actions:

More Info
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day?

The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

ID: 71134

Quick Actions:

More Info
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day?

The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

ID: 71136

Quick Actions:

More Info
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day?

The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

ID: 71137

Quick Actions:

More Info
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day?

The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

ID: 71140

Quick Actions:

More Info
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day?

The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

ID: 71141

Quick Actions:

More Info
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day?

The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

ID: 71142

Quick Actions:

More Info
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day?

The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

ID: 71156

Quick Actions:

More Info
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day?

The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

ID: 71157

Quick Actions:

More Info
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day?

The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

ID: 71158

Quick Actions:

More Info
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day?

The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

ID: 71178

Quick Actions:

More Info
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day?

The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

ID: 71180

Quick Actions:

More Info
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day?

The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

ID: 71183

Quick Actions:

More Info
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day?

The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

ID: 71187

Quick Actions:

More Info

Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day?

The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to.

algeria. settlers, camps, colonialism, graveyard, homeland, lost, man, moroccan, Morocco, occupation, refugee, refugees, sharawi, spain, tindouf, Western, western sahara, woman

Comment

New: Alan great imagery absolutely

Submitted by Cherise Chadwick on Tue, 19/05/2009 - 13:15.

Alan great imagery absolutely beautiful!

New: hi Alan,,,sorry i dont Know

Submitted by Guillermo Martinez on Tue, 19/05/2009 - 10:30.

hi Alan,,,sorry i dont Know anybody in spain,i dont have contacts i cant show my work...is very dificult found job in Sapin.
try in diario EL PAÏS.
Bets regards.

New: many thanks! I was wondering

Submitted by alan gignoux on Mon, 18/05/2009 - 23:31.

many thanks! I was wondering if you knew anywhere in Spain that might want to show my work?

New: good history an good

Submitted by Guillermo Martinez on Mon, 18/05/2009 - 23:18.

good history an good shots,congratulations.
Best regads.

Posted by:

The short bio of this photographer isn't available.

Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to
Homeland Lost focuses on the Saharawi refugees scattered in Tindouf, Western Algeria and in Spain, juxtaposed with images from the Western Sahara that has been under Moroccan occupation since the end of Spanish colonial rule in 1975. How has the landscape changed?, What has happened to their homes? what traces of Spanish colonial survive to this day? The Saharawi are allowed to return to their home but choose not to

More News from this Author

Demonstration outside the Israeli Embassy in London against the storming of the Turkish registered cargo ship, The Mavi Marmara in International waters.
Demonstration outside the Israeli Emassy in London.
Politics
05/06/2010
Vorkuta is a slowly dying coal mining town above the tree line in the Russian Arctic, it is unique as the buildings are colourfully painted but detremential to the environment as highly toxic fumes scar this desolate landscape. Vorkuta, Russia. 23/10/2009. Vorkuta is a bleak coal mining community, closer to Canada’s Baffin Island than Moscow. Vorkuta is at the last stop on the Russia’s northern train route and yet another, “Road or rail of bones” built by forced Trotskyite prisoner labour in the 1930’s. There are no roads connecting the town to the rest of Russia, only local roads connecting the highly toxic coalmines that scatter the landscape, belching out toxins into this fragile tundra eco-system. The mines are only half operational after the economic reforms of Perestroika and privatisation as the costs of transporting the coal by rail to any economic centre are prohibitive. The mines will be gone in the next quarter century but the damage will last for eternity. Vorkuta is a self contained community of third generation miners, some descended from ex political and social prisoners while others took advantage of the higher than average wages being offered by the Soviet authorities to work in such isolated and inhospitable conditions. Average temperatures in January can reach -60 degrees although global warming is ushering an improvement, -40. Russia last train station is next to a decayed Stalin era theatre but unlike the rest of Russia, the Stalin and Brezhnev apartments are painted different colours to avoid the depression and other psychological disorders that come with the dark Polar nights. Vorkuta is really the hoping off point to explore the Poly Urals, a mountain range that stretches down to Kazakhstan, more than three thousand kilometres away. The landscape is a treeless but this is where the Urals, the oldest mountain range in the world really take a spectacular form with untouched clean rivers flowing through the tundra. This does not mean there has not previous human habitation as the Poly Urals are littered with abandoned towns and ski resorts only open during the months of May and June. Poyarny was once a research town of two thousand souls. The Town’s main purpose was analysing the mineral deposits that could bring fabulous wealth to the Soviet system. Today, the wooden slum housing and Breshnev apartment blocks lay abandoned while tall snowy peaks looking down as if to say, “We will always be here” The old homes have been stripped of anything of any value and are just waiting to completely wither away and simply disappear. Already the roads and pavements have disappeared under a layer of tundra bushes while a daily crew of contractors come to maintain the station and work on whatever needs to be worked on.
Arctic Russia
Environment
22/10/2009
As a result of unexplained nuclear poisoning, Moosliumovo village has been almost totally deserted. A few locals struggle on in what has become a nuclear wasteland. Chelyabinsk, Russia. 16/10/2009. During the Yeltsin years of the 1990’s, the KGB's files were opened to public scrutiny. Suspicions regarding neighbours spying on their neighbours were confirmed, but most importantly, the truth about industrial accidents was finally revealed, even the nuclear accidents that the Soviet Union had been able to cover up. The Urals is Russia's main industrial region, supplying steel, military armaments and copper. Moosliumovo is a small village just outside the steel town of Chelyabinsk on the Russian Steppe. In 1959, the townspeople woke up to a terrible explosion that shook the ground and shattered windows. Soon animals and small children started to die because the water from the stream flowing through the village had been contaminated by the authorities dumping nuclear waste into the river. The whole incident was covered up by the Soviet authorities, but the townspeople knew something truly appalling had happened because more and more people started dying of cancer, leukaemia and failing immune systems. Today, the town is deserted but for a few unfortunate families who were not able to access the fund that had been set up to move them to a safer environment.
Unexplained nuclear fallout
Environment
15/10/2009
Giant, engraved tombstones commemorate some of Russia's most ruthless gang members. Ekaterinburg, Russia. 23/10/2009. Ural Mash looks like any other Soviet-planned industrial monster. What makes it unique, is its place at the centre of the Soviet military industrial complex, earning the entire Ural region, the status of being “Closed to foreigners”. Thanks to its military industrial complex, Ural Mash did not experience the economic devastation of the 1990’s, but nevertheless, it became one of the most violent places in post-Soviet Russia. Ural Mash gained particular fame for the viciousness of its organised crime gangs and their ability to extend their tentacles across Russia and beyond. Petty criminals kept Ekaterinburg’s residents behind locked doors while gangsters terrorised kiosk and shop owners, restaurateurs, retailers, travel agencies, basically, anybody who sparked their financial interest. The traditional Russian Vor were completely overwhelmed by the new twenty plus gangs of youths, who, in turn, attracted the interest of larger 'big-time' criminals. Many young lives were cut short by the barrel of a gun settling business disputes. With hindsight, the gangster culture started long before the fall of the Soviet Union, criminality officially did not exist in Soviet society as criminals who had fallen out of favour were sent to Gulags in the Urals. Upon release, the criminals founded their own communities because returning to their original homes was forbidden. Amongst the sterile, faceless and crumbling Soviet centrally planned apartment blocks, there is an oasis of silver birch trees dotted with Russsian Orthodox crosses and Islamic moons. The old Soviet stars are slowly being replaced or just rusting away. Russian tombstones normally have the image of the deceased etched into their surface. The more prosperous the departed, the more intricate the etching on their gravestone. Benches surround the tombs so relatives can come and pay their respects. A special sector in the cemetery is reserved exclusively for those mafia members who did not survive Yeltsin’s years of raw capitalism. Giant tombstones rise high up through the trees with full-length etchings of the deceased, clad head to toe in 90’s Mafioso leather. The 'enforcers', the young men who were recruited from the defunct Soviet sports clubs and who carried out the orders of the leather clad on the, “legitimate Businessmen” have their 'special skill', such as a judo symbol or knife expert, etched onto their tombstone. Those who fell victim to the 'specialists' are depicted in the respectability of business suits with mobile phones attached to their ears. Alexander Khabarov’s tomb, complete with a life sized bust, is by far the most impressive in the graveyard, codifying his status as Ural Mash’s most prominent criminal. Khabarov “committed suicide” while in prison. Public opinion of Khabarov is still so negative, that a CCTV camera has been installed in a nearby tree to protect his bust from vandalism. I have been informed that gangsters in Ural Mash are either abroad, enjoying the good life in London, dead or are part of legitimate business enterprises under the protection of the authorities. Apparently, “they want to have a safe life and be able to send their children to study abroad”
Gangster's Paradise
Our World
22/10/2009
Karabash has been described as the most polluted town in Russia as it is home to the Russian Copper Company's main smelter. Karabash, Russia. 23/10/2009. The Ural region is Russia’s industrial belt with industrial origins stretching back to the reign of Peter the Great who recognised the potential of the ore lying inside the surrounding mountains. Throughout Russia’s history, The Urals wealth has saved Russia. During the Second World War, The Ural industrial region was out of reach for Nazi bombers, allowing Russia to rebuild its military strength. The region brought much needed foreign currency exchange during the Soviet period and most recently, has contributed to the,” Economic miracle” of this decade. The price to pay has been enormous, environmental and social scars litter this part of the Russian Steppe. Karabash is Russia’s, “Dirtiest Town”, some have gone as far to say it could well be the filthiest town in the world. Looks are very deceiving. On the approach, Karabash is surrounded by the foothills of the Urals, covered with forests of Birch and a supposed clean recreational lake, complete with an ice cream van. Turn the corner, a new reality of a treeless landscape of, “Dead Zones “ show how toxic the stinging white sky of pollutants being belched out by the Russian Copper Company. The pollution is so harsh that your throat and eyes sting, your clothes have to be thrown away once you leave the town. Karabash is only working at half capacity as economic reforms have made half the workforce redundant, forcing families to abandon their once state owned wooden, “Slum Apartments” for opportunities elsewhere. The remaining population toil in the, ‘Hot Production” plant but have been moved to higher ground, a little further away from the plant, the air might not sting so much but only 27% of the population is considered healthy. The Russian Copper was obliged to move the population as a condition of securing loans from European banks as a certain percentage of the loan had to be earmarked for environmental programmes.
Karabash the most polluted town in Russia
Environment
22/10/2009