Zimbabwe's climate migrants fear eviction as government crackdown intensifies

Al Jazeera reporters visited the Chimanimani region near Mutare and spoke with families who have received eviction notices in recent months. Most have come from the south-western provinces of Masvingo and Matabeleland, areas that have lost cereal production to repeated droughts over the past decade. Farmers showed documents indicating they had filed land applications with local authorities before settling in the Eastern Highlands.

The government says some of the land in question lies inside Chimanimani National Park conservation reserves, while other parcels belong to state forests. The Ministry of Environment, Climate and Tourism said unauthorised settlements threaten the watersheds and rare-species habitats of these protected forests. Police and forestry rangers have been conducting the evictions, with some structures reported demolished.

Independent human rights groups said it remains unclear whether affected families have been offered alternative resettlement land or adequate compensation. The Zimbabwe Farmers Union has requested formal dialogue with the government. Climate migration projections suggest hundreds of thousands of Zimbabweans may have to move to more fertile regions over the next decade.