Tanzania is forcibly evicting tens of thousands of Maasai from their ancestral lands, according to a Human Rights Watch report.
Government rangers reportedly beat community members with impunity, exacerbating tensions.
The government initiated a program in 2022 to relocate about 82,000 people from the Ngorongoro Conservation Area to Handeni district by 2027.
This has sometimes resulted in deadly clashes between the authorities and the nomadic Maasai community.
The government claims the relocation is to conserve the UNESCO World Heritage site from human encroachment.
However, HRW argues it’s for conservation and tourism, leading to international criticism, with the World Bank and the EU withdrawing funding.
HRW interviewed nearly 100 people, including those already relocated to Msomera village and others facing relocation.
They reported government-employed rangers assaulting and beating residents without consequences, listing 13 alleged beatings between September 2022 and July 2023.
One man recounted how rangers attacked his friend without reason.
There’s no hope for legal redress as police and rangers are complicit.
HRW alleges the government failed to provide free and fair consent for relocation, violating rights to land, education, and health.
