The government of Tanzania is implementing policies intended to force Maasai residents to relocate outside of the Ngorongoro Conservation Area, according to a report released by Human Rights Watch (HRW) on Wednesday.
HRW reported that the government has utilized tactics such as cutting essential public services “including schools and health centres,” banning residents from growing crops, and preventing access to cultural sites in an effort to compel Maasai residents to participate in the government’s “voluntary relocation program.”
HRW states that authorities have “restricted movement in and out of the conservation area”, and charge residents a “costly tourist fee to enter if they do not have the specific type of identification demanded.” HRW has also “documented 13 incidents of beatings by rangers between September 2022 and July 2023”.
The Tanzanian government devised its relocation policy in 2021 with a goal of removing the Maasai population from the park by 2027 for tourism and conservation purposes. The Maasai community was not informed or consulted, according to interviews conducted by HRW. The relocation plan was implemented in 2022.
The relocation plan drew the attention of UN Special Rapporteurs in 2022, who reported government-ordered demolitions in the park and the eviction of Maasai residents.
Forced displacement is implicitly prohibited by Article 13 of the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights (UNDHR), which recognizes all peoples’ right to reside within their home country. Article 8 of the United Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) obliges states to:
provide effective mechanisms for prevention of, and redress for…any action which has the aim or effect of dispossessing [Indigenous peoples] of their lands, territories or resources, [or] any form of forced population transfer which has the aim or effect of violating or undermining any of their rights.
The rights to freedom of movement, housing, adequate standards of living, food, and respect for the family located in various alternate sources of international law also “inherently protect against forced displacement.”
Tanzania has ratified both the UNDHR and the UNDRIP and is subject to each of these sources of international law.
The Maasai people have been subject to forced relocation previously in their history. Many Maasai people were relocated to poorer land in Kenya and Tanzania following the signing of a controversial treaty with settlers in 1911.
