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Displacement of People

Tourism Concern started to realise that one of the most severe effects of tourism development was that people were evicted from their homes. We were contacted by Maasai people from Tanzania asking for help and saying quite simply in hand-written letters which must have cost a lot to post: "tourism is killing us." Tourism Concern started campaigning on displaced people - people who have lost their homes and livelihoods through tourism. We focused particularly on the Maasai and other tribal people of East Africa. We also focused on the people of Burma. Tourism Concern continues to campaign on the issue of tourism to Burma today (read more).

East Africa and Tanzania

At the beginning of 1988, pastoralists were evicted from the Mkomazi Game Reserve in north-eastern Tanzania, on the border with Kenya. Many of their homes were razed to the ground and some livestock was rounded up and sold by the government to pay for the evictions. People received no compensation and were literally left by the roadside with 40,000 cattle. They are now confined to a narrow strip of land surrounded by the farms and villages of the agricultural community along the Pangani River. Tourists are permitted to enter the park to view the wildlife, but if cattle wander into the reserve in search of grass and water they are impounded and the pastoralists have to pay a heavy fine. This is a pattern that has been repeated throughout East Africa. National parks and wildlife are being conserved at the expense of the people who have lived there and been guardians of the land and the wildlife for centuries, and who understand the bush in much more detail than western wildlife 'experts' and have a low-impact, sustainable lifestyle.

Our campaign: Tourism Concern members took part in a postcard campaign to British tour operators sending tourists to Kenya and Tanzania, asking what tour operators' positions were. We held meetings with the tour operators to encourage them to only operate tours in consultation with the Maasai and other tribal groups and to involve them in the business of tourism. A number of tour operators now conduct tours to Maasai-run lodges in Kenya and Tanzania.

Burma

Burma is unique in that it so many of its human rights abuses are directly connected to tourism development. Money earned from tourism also goes directly to prop up the brutal military regime. For these reasons, Aung San Suu Kyi and the Burmese movement for democracy have asked tourists to stay away from Burma. Aung San Suu Kyi has said that tourism is "a form of moral support for [the generals] because it makes the military authorities think that the international community is not opposed to the human rights violations which they are committing all the time. They seem to look on the influx of tourists as proof that their actions are accepted by the world…" She has added: "Burma will be here for many years, so tell your friends to visit us later. Visiting now is tantamount to condoning the regime."

Our campaign: Tourism Concern members took part in a postcard campaign to tour operators expressing their concern about tourism to Burma. We set up a number of meetings with tour operators, MPs and members of the Burmese community. We distributed Burma-Tourism bulletins to tour operators giving them updates of the human rights situation in Burma. Around 10 UK operators no longer operate in Burma or never have for ethical reasons.

More about our ongoing Burma campaign

More about displacement