The Israeli government plans to clear hundreds of Bedouin villages in the Negev desert, to make way for new settlements and industry. The area is home to over 30,000 Bedouin, who have lived here since before the foundation of the state of Israel. But the government calls them ‘squatters’, and plans to relocate families over the next six years to purpose-built townships. These indigenous communities have access to just three per cent of the land, despite representing a quarter of the Negev population. Around half the population lives in 46 villages, which Israel has dubbed illegal. The unauthorized villages have no running water or electricity, making them unbearable in the arid desert. Many children have no schooling, and access to healthcare is sporadic.
Villages are being demolished without reprieve. Israel issued 1,000 demolition orders between 2004 and 2006, despite the fact that the Bedouin should be offered protection under the UN Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples.
