VICE News
Forced Out of the Forest: The Lost Tribe of Uganda
2015 • E129 Jul 17, 2015 14m
Removed from their forest dwellings by government authorities in order to establish the Mgahinga and Bwindi Impenetrable National Parks in Uganda, the Batwa pygmies now live in slums around Kisoro, a town which sees tourists stream through each year to visit the parks, which were created to protect the country's endangered mountain gorillas. While conservation tourism booms, however, most Batwa are considered ultra poor, have extremely low life expectancy, and have been struggling to have their rights recognized for three decades. Over recent years, a Batwa organization called UOBDU has sought legal recourse, arguing that the land for the national parks was unlawfully seized from the indigenous people. This is yet to be resolved. VICE News films with the Batwa pygmies, where they struggle against discrimination and poverty to survive in Uganda.