BATWA People of Uganda - and the repercussions of reckless conservation

Wednesday, May 20, 2009

"The world has either failed to understand or the world is not informed about our suffering". That is a
direct quote from my Batwa brother from Uganda, we met in Alaska at the first Global Indigenous
Conference on Climate Change that we attended, I had heard him speak passionately about his people,
and later invited him to join the Pan-Tribal Confederacy - which he accepted.

The Batwa were forcibly removed from their traditional lands in the forests of Uganda in 1991 by the
then government of Uganda, all in the name of foreign conceptualized 'National parks for the Gorillas';
so the Gorillas were protected and the Batwa were evicted. The Government had no contingency plan
for the Batwa, they had to find a way to survive in an alien urban environment, fighting for crumbs as
the landless and the homeless.

Before their world was destroyed the Batwa were hunter-gatherers, and they used to depend on the
forest for survival - including medicinal herbs. since the eviction the Batwa have became beggars,
scattered and marginalized, frequently discriminated against, they cannot socially interact with others.
Health care is often denied to them, education is limited to non-existent, and the Batwa rarely get an
honest wage for their labor in comparison to other Ugandans.

Deplorable housing, poor sanitation, low self-confidence, no representation in Ugandan society,
insufficient food, and no rights in any areas including Judicially. It is no wonder then that the few
Batwa Children who DO become enrolled in school drop out at an early age due to all the above
mitigating factors, and Batwa girls tend to get married at an unnecessarily young age; generally at the
onset of puberty in many instances. Lack of clothing also contributes to the discrimination they face in
the urban context. To make matters worse - due to their severe poverty non-Batwa peoples use this
state of desperation to employ Batwa workers and pay them less than anyone else; or simply give them
a little food for their hard work. It has reached the sad state today - that Batwa have resorted to dancing
and begging in the cities and towns to be able to obtain sustenance.

Perhaps, the members of the esteemed boards of directors of the many noble conservation organizations
of the world - should give a thought to the human tragedies that may result from their well intentioned,
but clearly inadequately enacted (in this case) projects in areas with indigenous populations. Alas, it is
too late to erase the grief the Batwa have endured in the haste to protect the Gorillas at all costs, we can
only hope now that his Excellency President Yoweri Kaguta Museveni, will use his tremendous power
and influence, to right this terrible wrong inflicted on the Batwa, and show the world that the new
progressive government of Uganda under his able leadership - is fully compliant with the United
Nations Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples, and the International Convention on the
Elimination of Racial Discrimination; and CAN give hope, dignity and justice back to the Indigenous
Batwa People of Uganda.