" Forced Evictions at Barrick’s North Mara Gold Mine: Report details gross violations of human rights in Tanzania" 12 December 2023

MiningWatch Canada releases a report describing gross violations of human rights at Barrick Gold’s North Mara Gold Mine in Tanzania. Thousands of Indigenous Kuria near the mine have been forcibly evicted from their lands to make room for the mine’s expansion. Most people were evicted in December 2022, with the remaining families losing their homes and lands in August and September of 2023.

MiningWatch Canada met with affected villagers in 2022 and again in October 2023. Both the eviction process and the lack of rights-compatible compensation have led to serious impacts including homelessness, landlessness, loss of food security, malnutrition among children, children no longer attending school, as well as mental and physical health impacts.

“The eviction process has been intimidating, coercive and sometimes violent and did not conform to human rights norms, nor to internationally-recognized voluntary standards,” says Catherine Coumans of MiningWatch Canada. “Villagers were prohibited from using their land to feed and support themselves long before they received any compensation. When the bulldozers came to destroy their homes, they had nowhere to go.”

Many of these Kuria families have been camping on the land of neighbours and friends for almost a year, leading to social friction. Families and extended households that used to live together have been dispersed among those who will take them in. Widows and grandmothers who are taking care of children are especially vulnerable, as are young girls who are separated from their families.

In a letter exchange with MiningWatch Canada, Barrick Gold CEO Mark Bristow denies that the evictions were forced. “Barrick’s denial perpetuates the harm the evicted families are enduring,” says Coumans. “These families urgently need humanitarian aid and a long-term, rights-compatible resettlement. Denial also puts other Kuria at risk as the mine continues to expand.”