A new report outlines how the Tanzanian government is cutting essential services to force the relocation of Maasai living in a conservation area.
Government denying Maasai voting rights - expert tells DW
"In the past three years, the government of Tanzania has been inflicting social and economic restrictions on the Maasai in Ngorongoro," Denis Oleshangay, a lawyer and activist from Ngorongoro told DW.
He has been advocating for the Maasai in several cases, both in Tanzanian courts, and in the East African Court of Justice.
"The community is denied rights to access important social services, like education, health and essential places for pasture, water and salt links," Oleshangay added.
He said that the government, through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA), has denied building permits for the renovation of collapsed structures, including classrooms, health facilities, and residential homes.
"Recently, the community has been complaining that the government is now stripping them of their voting rights and disenfranchising them, to facilitate their removal from Ngorongoro," he added.
Oleshangay pointed out that, while the government listed polling stations nationwide, the villages in Ngorongoro were notably absent from the list.
Written using material from AFP and EFE news agencies
Edited by: Wesley Rahn
Shristi Mangal Pal Multimedia journalist and presenter
Tanzania evicting tens of thousands of Maasai: HRW
The Maasai people in Ngorongoro Conservation Area, Arusha, Tanzania face eviction
Huax Hongli/Xinhua/IMAGO
Shristi Mangal Pal
Shristi Mangal Pal
July 31, 2024
A new report released Wednesday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) reveals some of the consequences of a plan from the Tanzanian government to force the Maasai to relocate from their ancestral lands in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in northern Tanzania.
With over 82,000 Maasai being evicted, the rights watchdog has said that the government had violated the Maasai's rights to land, education, and health without providing fair consent.
"The Maasai are being forcibly evicted under the guise of voluntary relocation," said Juliana Nnoko, HRW senior researcher on women and land.
The HRW report said that "government-employed rangers assaulted and beat residents with impunity," with community members reporting 13 alleged incidents of beatings between September 2022 and July 2023.
The government has said that relocating the Maasai aims to protect the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, a UNESCO World Heritage site, from human encroachment.
What does the report say?
HRW argued that the Tanzanian government wants to "use the Maasai lands for conservation and tourism purposes."
To pressure the community into relocating, Tanzanian authorities have cut funding for schools and health centers, which restricts access to essential care and increases travel distances.
HRW reported that the service cuts have had severe consequences, with one woman giving birth to premature twins in a car, both babies dying from delayed care.
Additionally, three women died from pregnancy-related complications between April and May last year due to a lack of timely medical help.
Controversy over the relocation scheme has led to the World Bank in April suspending $150 million worth of conservation funding, and the EU also removing Tanzania's eligibility for around $19 million in similar funding.
A new report released Wednesday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) reveals some of the consequences of a plan from the Tanzanian government to force the Maasai to relocate from their ancestral lands in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area in northern Tanzania.
With over 82,000 Maasai being evicted, the rights watchdog has said that the government had violated the Maasai's rights to land, education, and health without providing fair consent.
"The Maasai are being forcibly evicted under the guise of voluntary relocation," said Juliana Nnoko, HRW senior researcher on women and land.
The HRW report said that "government-employed rangers assaulted and beat residents with impunity," with community members reporting 13 alleged incidents of beatings between September 2022 and July 2023.
The government has said that relocating the Maasai aims to protect the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, a UNESCO World Heritage site, from human encroachment.
What does the report say?
HRW argued that the Tanzanian government wants to "use the Maasai lands for conservation and tourism purposes."
To pressure the community into relocating, Tanzanian authorities have cut funding for schools and health centers, which restricts access to essential care and increases travel distances.
HRW reported that the service cuts have had severe consequences, with one woman giving birth to premature twins in a car, both babies dying from delayed care.
Additionally, three women died from pregnancy-related complications between April and May last year due to a lack of timely medical help.
Controversy over the relocation scheme has led to the World Bank in April suspending $150 million worth of conservation funding, and the EU also removing Tanzania's eligibility for around $19 million in similar funding.
Government denying Maasai voting rights - expert tells DW
"In the past three years, the government of Tanzania has been inflicting social and economic restrictions on the Maasai in Ngorongoro," Denis Oleshangay, a lawyer and activist from Ngorongoro told DW.
He has been advocating for the Maasai in several cases, both in Tanzanian courts, and in the East African Court of Justice.
"The community is denied rights to access important social services, like education, health and essential places for pasture, water and salt links," Oleshangay added.
He said that the government, through the Ngorongoro Conservation Area Authority (NCAA), has denied building permits for the renovation of collapsed structures, including classrooms, health facilities, and residential homes.
"Recently, the community has been complaining that the government is now stripping them of their voting rights and disenfranchising them, to facilitate their removal from Ngorongoro," he added.
Oleshangay pointed out that, while the government listed polling stations nationwide, the villages in Ngorongoro were notably absent from the list.
Written using material from AFP and EFE news agencies
Edited by: Wesley Rahn
Shristi Mangal Pal Multimedia journalist and presenter
Nairobi (AFP) – Tanzania is forcibly evicting tens of thousands of Maasai from their ancestral lands,
Human Rights Watch said in a report on Wednesday, claiming that government rangers beat some members of the community with impunity.
Issued on: 31/07/2024
'Both babies died'
To encourage people to relocate, the authorities also reduced infrastructure funding for schools and health centres, HRW said, limiting the community's access to vital care and forcing them to travel further.#photo1
One woman gave birth to premature twins in a car en route to a hospital, according to her cousin, who said "both babies died because we could not get them the right services as soon as possible."
Three women died between April and May last year after they were unable to access medical care for "pregnancy-related complications", the report said, citing one woman.
International criticism of the relocation programme has grown, with the World Bank suspending payment in April towards a $150 million conservation funding and the European Union also revoking Tanzania's eligibility for some $19 million in similar funding.
But HRW found that "the government has systematically silenced critics... contributing to a climate of fear".
"You're not allowed to say anything," said one person quoted by HRW who has already relocated to Msomera.
People have "fear in their hearts".
© 2024 AFP
Issued on: 31/07/2024
There have been years of tensions between authorities and the Maasai community, sometimes resulting in deadly clashes
© TONY KARUMBA / AFP/File
Long-standing tensions between the authorities and the nomadic community have sometimes resulted in deadly clashes, after the government launched a programme beginning in 2022 to relocate some 82,000 people from the world-renowned Ngorongoro Conservation Area to Handeni district, roughly 600 kilometres (370 miles) away, by 2027, HRW said.
But the scheme, which the government says is to conserve the UNESCO World Heritage site from human encroachment, but which HRW says will "use their land for conservation and tourism purposes", has come under growing international criticism with the World Bank and the European Union pulling funding.
HRW said it interviewed nearly 100 people between August 2022 and December 2023, including community members who had already moved to Msomera village in Handeni and others facing relocation.
The report noted "government-employed rangers assaulting and beating residents with impunity", with community members describing how they were targeted, and listing 13 alleged beatings between September 2022 and July 2023.
"He was just walking, and they just punished him," one man told HRW, describing how rangers stopped his 35-year-old friend en route to a funeral and made the man kneel before clobbering him with a stick, leaving him wounded.
There was no hope of legal redress, he told HRW, as you "go to the same police who have beaten the guy, so you can't get any aid."
"Rangers are like people who are above the law."
The report also alleged that the Tanzanian government failed to provide free and fair consent to the relocation, describing violations of rights to land, education, and health.
"The Maasai are being forcibly evicted under the guise of voluntary relocation," said Juliana Nnoko, HRW senior researcher on women and land.
"Human rights violations should not be happening because we want to conserve biodiversity, or for tourism reasons, and this is the case that we've seen in this context in northern Tanzania," Nnoko said Wednesday during a press conference.
While the nomadic community has historically been allowed to live within some national parks, the authorities say growing populations encroach on wildlife habitats.
The government has consistently maintained its relocation scheme observes Tanzania's rights laws.
Long-standing tensions between the authorities and the nomadic community have sometimes resulted in deadly clashes, after the government launched a programme beginning in 2022 to relocate some 82,000 people from the world-renowned Ngorongoro Conservation Area to Handeni district, roughly 600 kilometres (370 miles) away, by 2027, HRW said.
But the scheme, which the government says is to conserve the UNESCO World Heritage site from human encroachment, but which HRW says will "use their land for conservation and tourism purposes", has come under growing international criticism with the World Bank and the European Union pulling funding.
HRW said it interviewed nearly 100 people between August 2022 and December 2023, including community members who had already moved to Msomera village in Handeni and others facing relocation.
The report noted "government-employed rangers assaulting and beating residents with impunity", with community members describing how they were targeted, and listing 13 alleged beatings between September 2022 and July 2023.
"He was just walking, and they just punished him," one man told HRW, describing how rangers stopped his 35-year-old friend en route to a funeral and made the man kneel before clobbering him with a stick, leaving him wounded.
There was no hope of legal redress, he told HRW, as you "go to the same police who have beaten the guy, so you can't get any aid."
"Rangers are like people who are above the law."
The report also alleged that the Tanzanian government failed to provide free and fair consent to the relocation, describing violations of rights to land, education, and health.
"The Maasai are being forcibly evicted under the guise of voluntary relocation," said Juliana Nnoko, HRW senior researcher on women and land.
"Human rights violations should not be happening because we want to conserve biodiversity, or for tourism reasons, and this is the case that we've seen in this context in northern Tanzania," Nnoko said Wednesday during a press conference.
While the nomadic community has historically been allowed to live within some national parks, the authorities say growing populations encroach on wildlife habitats.
The government has consistently maintained its relocation scheme observes Tanzania's rights laws.
'Both babies died'
To encourage people to relocate, the authorities also reduced infrastructure funding for schools and health centres, HRW said, limiting the community's access to vital care and forcing them to travel further.#photo1
One woman gave birth to premature twins in a car en route to a hospital, according to her cousin, who said "both babies died because we could not get them the right services as soon as possible."
Three women died between April and May last year after they were unable to access medical care for "pregnancy-related complications", the report said, citing one woman.
International criticism of the relocation programme has grown, with the World Bank suspending payment in April towards a $150 million conservation funding and the European Union also revoking Tanzania's eligibility for some $19 million in similar funding.
But HRW found that "the government has systematically silenced critics... contributing to a climate of fear".
"You're not allowed to say anything," said one person quoted by HRW who has already relocated to Msomera.
People have "fear in their hearts".
© 2024 AFP
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