Oct. 1 (EUROPA PRESS) –
A Tanzanian regional court on Friday rejected a complaint filed by a group of Maasai who had denounced the authorities for using violence to evict them from the territories near the Serengeti National Park, their ancestral land in the north of the country.
The incidents erupted after hundreds of members of the security forces were dispatched to the area to set up tents and demarcate the reserve, prompting the Maasai to move to remove the markers and deploy surveillance groups in this area. and in the Ngorongoro Conservation Area.
According to the government, at least four Maasai settlements are located on land bordering the nature park, originally demarcated for hunting by the former British colonial authorities, and now set aside for nature conservation, reports BNN Tanzania.
The case, specifically, affects 1,500 square kilometers of territory and dates back to 2018, when the court issued an interim order that stopped the evictions. However, the court now finds that the Maasai have been evicted from their village land, not the park itself.
The case will be appealed next week, according to a statement from the Pan-African Law Union representing the Maasai.
In June, United Nations experts expressed their concern about “the continued usurpation of the traditional lands and homes of the Masai”, while criticizing the “lack of transparency” on the part of the Tanzanian authorities.
“We are very alarmed by the information about the use of live fire and tear gas by the security forces during the day of June 10, leaving about 30 minor and serious injuries, including gunshot wounds, and the death of a police officer,” they pointed out.
