The Sengwer people (also known as Cherang'any and previously as Sekker, Siger, Sigerai, Segelai, Senguer, Senguel and Jangwel[1]) are an indigenous community who primarily live in the Embobut forest in the western highlands of Kenya[2] and in scattered pockets across Trans Nzoia, West Pokot and Elgeyo-Marakwet counties.[3] The Sengwer are sometimes portrayed as a component of the Marakwet people but are a distinct ethnic grouping.[4][5]
The Sengwer people are currently a marginalized community and face significant threats to their identity and ancestral lands.[6]
International and human rights organizations including the United Nations,[7]
Amnesty International[8] and the Kenya Human Rights Commission recognize the Sengwer as indigenous peoples whose claim to the area goes back hundreds of years and have repeatedly raised concerns about human rights violations against them.[9]: 31–33 [10]: 3, 32–33, 60–61 [11]
^MacDonald, J.R.L (1899). "Notes on the Ethnology of Tribes Met with During Progress of the Juba Expedition of 1897-99". The Journal of the Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland. 29 (3/4): 240. doi:10.2307/2843005. JSTOR 2843005.
^Lang, Chris (15 February 2018). "Threats of eviction against indigenous Sengwer people continue in Kenya". REDD-Monitor. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
^"Who are we?". SENGWER ETHNIC MINORITY INDIGENOUS PEOPLES. Retrieved 21 January 2019.
^FAMILIES TORN APART FORCED EVICTION OF INDIGENOUS PEOPLE IN EMBOBUT FOREST, KENYA(PDF). London: Amnesty International. 2018. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
^Lynch, Gabrielle (8 March 2016). "What's in a name? The politics of naming ethnic groups in Kenya's Cherangany Hills". Journal of Eastern African Studies. 10 (1): 208–227. doi:10.1080/17531055.2016.1141564.
^Cite error: The named reference Muraya was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
^"Kenya / Embobut Forest: UN rights expert calls for the protection of indigenous people facing eviction GENEVA". United Nations Human Rights Office of the High Commissioner. 13 January 2014. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
^"Kenya: Sengwer evictions from Embobut Forest flawed and illegal". Amnesty International. 15 May 2018. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
^DAYS IN THE COLD: KHRC's Report into the Embobut Forest Evictions. Nairobi, Kenya: Kenya Human Rights Commission. 2014.
^Kenya National Commission on Human Rights (April 2018). A N INTERIM REPORT OF THE HIGH - LEVEL INDEPENDENT FACT - FINDING MISSION TO EMBOBUT FOREST IN ELGEYO MARAKWET COUNTY A KNCHR REPORT(PDF). Nairobi: KENYA NATIONAL COMMISSION ON HUMAN RIGHT S (KNCHR). Retrieved 22 January 2019.
^Vidal, John (7 January 2014). "Kenyan families flee Embobut forest to avoid forced evictions by police". The Guardian. Retrieved 22 January 2019.
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