In recent years, there have been increasing concerns about the treatment of Indigenous people living in or near World Heritage Sites in Africa and Asia. A new report by Survival International has shed light on these issues, accusing the U.N. of being implicated in the violent eviction of Indigenous communities from six such sites.
The report highlights several examples of human rights abuses against Indigenous peoples, including the Maasai population in Tanzania, who have faced arrests, torture, and theft of their cattle despite UNESCO’s decision to allow them to remain within the capacity of the property. In the Democratic Republic of the Congo, UNESCO urged officials to remove illegal occupants from Kahuzi-Beiga National Park, resulting in the forced eviction of Indigenous Batwa people, who were subjected to rape, murder, and brutal treatment by Congolese soldiers.
Similar evictions have occurred at Odzala-Kokoua National Park in the Republic of the Congo, Kaziranga National Park in India, Chitwan National Park in Nepal, and the Kaeng Krachan Forest Complex in Thailand. Despite UNESCO’s claims that it upholds the rights of Indigenous people in managing World Heritage Sites, there is a growing call for greater accountability and action to protect their rights and ensure that they are not subjected to violence and intimidation.
