Tanzanian’s Eviction Of Indigenous Maasai

According to a new Human Rights Watch report, the impact of the – effectively forced – relocation of indigenous Maasai in Tanzania is “like killing culture.” The Tanzanian government launched a program in 2022 to evict 82,000 people from their ancestral land in Ngorongoro and move them to Msomera, roughly 600 km away.

Between August 2022 and December 2023, @hrw interviewed close to 100 residents, including some of those who’d been resettled, and learned that what had been touted as a ‘voluntary’ relocation was far from it. To ‘encourage’ those unwilling to comply, the government has been systematically reducing essential services in the Ngorongoro area, while also taking measures to restrict the grazing of animals. There were also allegations of intimidation from park rangers.

Activists are calling on the government to desist from pressuring Maasai people to relocate – and instead, to consult those affected, seek their consent and put measures in place to adequately compensate those who do agree to move.