“The current effort to dislocate the Massai tribe from their ancestral land put them at risk of losing their identity and culture,” they say and add, “If there is so much effort to protect our biodiversity, why is it that the international community does not seriously consider the protection of the Massai communities?”
Thousands of Maasai pastoralists have been asked to move from their ancestral home in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area and Loliondo to pave the way for the government to lease the land to Otterlo Business Corporation (OBC), a company based in the United Arab Emirates, to create elite tourism.
AEFJN members have also accused the government of Tanzania of denying health care to the Maasai in the areas.
They say the government has pressured the Catholic Church to reduce its emergency service to the only health facility in Ngorongoro.
“The Archdiocese of Arusha built the Endulen hospital in response to the healthcare needs of the Massai communities living in the Ngorongoro conservation area. In collaboration, the Government of Tanzania has participated in healthcare services by appointing paid staff to the hospital to complement the effort of the Church,” they say.
In recent months, however, AEFJN officials say the Tanzanian government has recalled the government-paid health workers from the health facility and forced the Church to “scale down and eventually stop its emergency services at the Endulen Catholic Hospital so that the hospital sinks to the level of a dispensary.”
What is happening “is a systematic effort to forcefully eject the Masai communities living within the Ngorongoro Conservation area from their ancestral land,” they say in reference to the alleged stopping of health services.
They also urge Tanzania’s government “to comply with the provisions of the UN Declaration on the rights of indigenous peoples and the regulations in place in the Ngorongoro Conservation area that state that ‘no decision can be made without proper involvement, consultation, and the consent of Maasai communities.’”
“The so-called voluntary relocation scheme and the halting of social services amount to the forced displacement of Maasai indigenous peoples from their ancestral lands,” AEFJN members say, adding, “It threatens their lives, cultures, and the many benefits they have brought to their environment, including conserving wildlife and territories. It is a violation of their fundamental rights and their right derived from the conservation regulations.”
The religious leaders say African nations are becoming notorious for evicting small indigenous communities from ancestral lands, which have natural resources.
