Masai evicted to make way for Dubai's royal hunt

The Tanzanian government has been accused of backtracking on a deal not to sell Masai land to the royal family of the United Arab Emirates, who intend to use the land for hunting big game.

The government recently ordered the Masai to leave their base around Loliondo in northern Tanzania by the end of the year, The Guardian reports.

The land will be sold to Ortelo Business Corporation, a company set up by an official close to the UAE royal family, the Daily Mail reports.

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The Tanzanian government had promised to compensate the Masai people by channelling a billion Tanzanian shillings (£400,000) into development and infrastructure projects, but activists among the Masai community rejected the offer.

Samwel Nangiria, co-ordinator of the local Ngonett campaign group, said: "One billion [shillings] is very little and you cannot compare that with land. It's inherited. Their mothers and grandmothers are buried in that land. There's nothing you can compare with it."

Last year the Tanzanian government agreed to scrap the deal after international activists led by Avaaz.org organised a petition that attracted more than 1.7 million signatures.

Alex Wilks, campaign director for Avaaz, criticised the government's reversal. "Treating the Masai as the great unwanted would be a disaster for Tanzania's reputation," he said

The Tanzanian government did not immediately respond to criticism of the new proposal.

"It's the first I've heard of it," a spokesperson for Tanzania's natural resources and tourism ministry told The Guardian. "I'm currently out of the office and can't comment properly."