Tanzania continues the systematic displacement of the Maasai

One year after the adoption of an EU resolution against the eviction of the Maasai from the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and the planned protected area in Loliondo, the situation on the ground has further deteriorated – as reported by the Society for Threatened Peoples (STP).

“Access to essential infrastructure is still restricted. In August, the Maasai had been temporarily barred from registering to vote in August, and protests were violently suppressed,” explained Laura Mahler, STP expert on sub-Saharan Africa. “In March, Maasai lawyer and winner of the Weimar Human Rights Prize Joseph Oleshangay was forced to leave the country because of his criticism against the government of Tanzania. The European External Action Service and the German Foreign Office should exert diplomatic pressure on the government of Tanzania in order to protect Oleshangay,” the human rights activist appealed.

“So far, the EU Resolution has not been implemented. This is also due to the fact that foreign policy resolutions are generally not legally binding. The EU should insist on the implementation of the resolution, an on respect for basic democratic principles and human rights in Tanzania – as it financed the development of democracy and the rule of law in Tanzania for years,” Mahler demanded. The resolution states that Tanzania must put an immediate end to the expulsion of the Maasai, to protect the rights of indigenous peoples, and to allow observation visits by EU and UN institutions. Apparently, Maasai who were displaced in the name of nature conservation are now being housed – “voluntarily” – in a newly constructed settlement in Msomera, 600 kilometers away.

“Actually, the Maasai are being driven out of their settlement areas systematically. There hasn’t been any medical care in the remote area for a long time, and this has already cost several lives. The schools can no longer rely on financial support, and food prices have risen significantly due to high taxes on transportation. Further, the Maasai’s livestock is monitored, their freedom of movement is restricted by fenced areas, and entire herds are illegally confiscated,” Mahler added. “The situation is bad. However, the Tanzanian government is planning to restrict the people’s rights even further in the coming years,” the human rights activist warned.

There are plans to expand the nature conservation areas to cover 50 percent of the entire country. This would lead to the displacement of a total number of 300,000 people and the loss of more than 80 percent of their traditional pastures. Officially, this is justified by an alleged excessive growth of the Maasai community, which is said to be a threat to the ecosystems. However, it is paradoxical that the Maasai are considered a threat to nature, while more than a million tourists annually are supposed to visit these areas in the future. Mass tourism is by far a more significant problem for the environment than the traditional way of life of the Maasai,” Mahler emphasized.

Tanzania has been one of Germany’s key partners in nature conservation for decades. Despite the fact that German development funds were temporarily frozen because of human rights concerns, the German Kreditanstalt für Wiederaufbau (KfW) approved an additional nine million euros in nature conservation fund at the beginning of the year 2024. The Zoological Society Frankfurt (Zoologische Gesellschaft Frankfurt, ZGF) is accused of being involved in the displacement of the Maasai as well. We are calling on the ZGF to stop the funding and implementation of projects if human rights violations cannot be ruled out,” Mahler demanded.