
UNESCO, the educational, scientific and cultural arm of the United Nations, has been accused of complicity in the illegal eviction and abuse of indigenous people around the world in a report published today — World Heritage Day.
In its report, rights organisation Survival International uncovers repeated cases of torture, rape, and killings of indigenous people in and around Unesco-designated world heritage sites.
The report highlights the case of the Maasai people in Tanzania who live near the Ngorongoro conservation area. The government there plans to evict thousands of Maasai from lands where they have lived for generations — a move Unesco has explicitly backed, according to the report.