Table of Contents
Amnesty International Reports Tanzanian Authorities’ Forced Evictions and Brutal Treatment of the Maasai People
Amnesty International released a report on June 23rd, 2023, detailing how Tanzanian authorities forcibly evicted members of the Maasai Indigenous community from their ancestral lands in Loliondo, Tanzania, with excessive force and without due process. The eviction left 70,000 people without access to the grazing lands that their livelihoods depended on. The Tanzanian authorities have reportedly resorted to ill-treatment, excessive use of force, arbitrary arrests and detentions, and forced evictions against members of the Maasai Indigenous community.
The Forced Evictions and their Consequences:
On June 10th, 2022, security forces shot and teargassed members of the Maasai community who had gathered to protest against the demarcation exercise. They evicted the Maasai with brutality from 1,500 square kilometres of their ancestral lands in Loliondo and left them without access to the grazing lands that their livelihoods depended on. The report also reveals that security forces arrested 132 individuals in Loliondo for allegedly being in the country illegally, and 27 Maasai were detained and unfairly charged in relation to the killing of a police officer. Ten individuals were arrested on June 9th, the day before the alleged murder took place, and later charged in connection with the officer’s death. The individuals were later discharged due to a lack of evidence, but some had to sell their livestock to pay for legal fees. The authorities have restricted the community’s access to their traditional grazing land and imposed exorbitant fines for impounding livestock, leaving the Maasai impoverished. The forced evictions resulted in a disruption of education, and as of May 2023, around 60 families remained living in Narok, Kenya, with no access to livelihoods.
Roots of the Issue:
The forced evictions in Tanzania are rooted in the country’s land governance policies, which fail to provide thousands of people with the right to land. In 2009, without gaining consent from the Maasai as required by international human rights standards, the Tanzanian authorities restricted human activities, including settlements and livestock grazing, in a network of so-called “Protected Areas.” Restrictions left the Maasai population with insufficient land for their livestock and water, leaving their cattle at risk of death. Since 1959, when the Maasai were moved from the Serengeti National Park to Loliondo, the Maasai have been repeatedly evicted from their traditional pastoral lands by the government. The authorities said the evictions were necessary for wildlife conservation, yet the land was later used for tourism activities, including trophy hunting.
Response from Amnesty International:
Tigere Chagutah, Amnesty International’s Regional Director for East and Southern Africa, stated that “The Tanzanian authorities must urgently recognize and fulfill the rights of the Maasai to their ancestral lands, territories, and natural resources. They should abide by their international and national obligations to protect the rights to adequate housing, peaceful assembly, free prior and informed consent, and non-discrimination. Instead, what we have seen is that they have forcibly evicted the Maasai from their ancestral lands and offered no compensation.”
Implications and Conclusion:
The Maasai people have been subjected to inhumane treatment and infringement of their human and land rights for decades, with no end in sight. The Tanzanian authorities must be held accountable for their actions and must urgently recognize and fulfill the rights of the Maasai people to their ancestral lands, territories, and natural resources as required by international human rights laws. They should also ensure that Indigenous peoples are offered leadership roles in conservation and allowed to use their traditional knowledge to protect the land by using conservation practices they have used for generations. The forced eviction and brutal treatment of the Maasai people serve as a clarion call for all stakeholders to come together and ensure that indigenous communities worldwide have their rights upheld and protected.
<< photo by Ron Lach >>
You might want to read !
- Assault on Press Freedoms in East and Southern Africa: Journalists Under Increasing Threat
- Outcry for Iraq to reveal fate of 643 men and boys abducted by government-linked militias
- The Implications of Saudi Arabia’s Execution of Two Shi’a Bahrainis
- The Human Toll of Iran’s War on Drugs: Prisons Turned Killing Fields with Triple Number of Executions in 2021
- Cambodia’s Crackdown on Land Rights Activists: A Dangerous Backslide