Tanzania accused of blocking European MPs visit to Loliondo

By Osoro Nyawangah, MWANZA Tanzania

Three European politicians say the Tanzanian government has prevented them from visiting the country to investigate the evictions of indigenous Masai people.

The three MEPs from the Green Party, Michele Rivasi, Claude Gruffat and Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana, said that less than 24 hours before they were due to set off on Monday, they were informed that the visit had been postponed.

“Yesterday, I should have travel to Tanzania to set up an independent observation mission following reports of human rights violations against Maasai. The government denied us entry to the territory, 24 hours before our departure.” She said on her Twitter page adding that it is an unacceptable decision.

They said in their joint press release that it was the third observation mission to be denied access since the end of last year.

“The MEPs from the Green Party, Michele Rivasi, Claude Gruffat and Pierrette Herzberger-Fofana were due to travel to Tanzania on Monday 4th September as part of an independent observation mission following civil society alerts on expulsions suffered by members of the Masai indigenous community and the arbitrary arrests and detentions of which they are alleged to be victims.” Reads the Press Release.

It states further that after months of preparation and while all the details of this mission were settled, the Tanzania government through its Ambassador to the EU said it had decided to” defer this visit to a later date”, 24 hours before the delegation should have left.

They said that it was an incomprehensible decision that calls into question all the work done in cooperation with the Tanzanian government, NGOs and EU representatives.

The Amnesty International allege that in 2009, without gaining consent from the Maasai as required by international human rights standards, the Tanzanian authorities restricted human activities, including settlements and livestock grazing, in a network of so-called “Protected Areas”.

These areas include 1,500square kilometres of villages where the Maasai have lived for generations, using the land for livestock grazing, food production and as a source of water.

The restrictions left more than 70,000 Maasai with insufficient land for their livestock as well as water shortages, leaving their cattle at risk of death.

The forced evictions in Tanzania are rooted in the country’s land governance policies, which fail to provide thousands of people with the right to land.

Since 1959, when the Maasai were moved from the Serengeti National Park to Loliondo, the Maasai have been repeatedly evicted from their traditional pastoral lands by the government. The authorities said the evictions were necessary for wildlife conservation, yet the land was later used for tourism activities, including trophy hunting.

The Maasai were subjected to forced evictions in 2009, 2013, 2017 and 2022 by numerous state security forces, who were accompanied by representatives of a private company licensed to operate tourism activities, including trophy hunting, in Loliondo.

"We will fight for our land to the end"

The government says local people have moved voluntarily, under a scheme that is necessary for conservation.