Many Maasai people are now homeless in Tanzania. The John Magufuli government has torched their houses citing the tourism sector would benefit, if believed to a US-based policy think tank.
In past one year or so the people in tens of thousands have been evicted from villages in northern Tanzania’s Loliondo area, which is close to the Ngorongoro Crater tourism hotspot. The villagers have been barred from vital grazing ground and watering holes too, reveals new report by the California-based Oakland Institute that researches environmental and social issues.
Anuradha Mittal from the think tank said safari and game park schemes area wreaking havoc on the people in parts of Tanzania amid tourism becoming fastest-growing sectors within the country’s economy.
She added, “But this is not just about a specific company – it is a reality that is all too familiar to indigenous communities around the world.”
The report mentions young Maasai people are living in fear and flee when any vehicle seems approaching towards their villages thinking representatives of foreign safari companies are coming.
Meanwhile, US-based Thomson Safaris said the allegations are not true and they have invested in the country in good faith through Tanzania Conservation Limited.
Rights groups including Survival Intarnational and Minority Rights Group International have lately raised concerns for the Maasai people alleging the land grabs could spell their end.
The Maasai lives in southern Kenya and parts of Tanzania. They are cattle herders and so need land to graze their animals.
