UN warns UNESCO and Uzbekistan over unlawful evictions in Samarkand’s heritage zone

In a joint statement, the experts voiced alarm over reports that entire neighborhoods in the protected zone were destroyed to make way for new tourist infrastructure, leaving hundreds of residents displaced.

“We have repeatedly raised our serious concerns about forced evictions in several UNESCO world natural and cultural heritage sites, including in Cambodia, Tanzania and Uzbekistan, with the concerned Governments, UNESCO and the World Heritage Committee,” the experts said.

“In most instances the victims are marginalized communities, members of minorities or Indigenous Peoples whose socio-economic fabric and livelihoods are destroyed by such forced evictions. The free, prior and informed consent of local communities is completely disregarded.”

According to the statement, in May 2025 an entire neighborhood near the al-Maturidi mausoleum – within the protected heritage zone – was demolished. The operation displaced more than 1,200 people, mainly from the Multoni minority, a local Roma community that had lived in the area for generations and maintained deep cultural and historical ties to the site.

“No alternatives were explored for how improved tourist infrastructure and a pilgrimage center could be realized without flattening an entire neighborhood,” the experts said. “Nor was a resettlement plan drawn up, discussed and agreed upon with the affected community before the demolitions started.”

A heritage impact assessment was reportedly submitted to the World Heritage Committee only after most homes had already been destroyed.

Reports indicate that residents were expropriated under pressure from police, judicial and local authorities in a process that offered no effective legal remedy. A lawyer defending one homeowner was allegedly threatened and detained, while electricity and gas supplies were cut off to force families to leave. Although some residents received compensation, the sums were insufficient to purchase comparable property in central Samarkand.

The demolitions came only months after the UN Special Rapporteur on the right to adequate housing visited Uzbekistan and urged an end to forced evictions. The World Heritage Committee had also repeatedly called for a moratorium on demolition and new construction in Samarkand.

“We deeply regret that the Government has chosen to disregard this recommendation on a moratorium,” the experts said.

The targeting of the Roma community has also raised concerns about discrimination and cultural erasure. The demolitions occurred just months before UNESCO’s 43rd General Conference, which opened today in Samarkand.

So far, UNESCO and its World Heritage Committee have not adopted official guidelines prohibiting forced evictions, ensuring tenure security, or requiring the free, prior and informed consent of residents affected by heritage projects. The experts stressed that UNESCO bears a duty to uphold human and cultural rights and must not “turn a blind eye to their violation in the name of protecting cultural heritage.”

“There is regrettably a stronger risk that a world heritage site is delisted when a bridge obstructs views, than when local populations are forcibly driven out of their homes and livelihoods and face severe human rights violations, all in the name of protection of heritage,” they added.

The experts urged UNESCO’s General Conference to adopt binding guidelines prohibiting forced evictions and ensuring rights-based resettlement where relocation cannot be avoided. They emphasized that all criteria for granting or maintaining UNESCO World Heritage status must include respect for international human rights standards.