The non-governmental organization calls for the cessation of this project, in a report released Monday, July 10. More than 100,000 people could eventually be displaced.
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EACOP will impoverish “thousands of people” and contribute “to the global climate crisis”. Human Rights Watch (HRW) is alarmed, Monday July 10, on this project carried out by Total Energies in the North-West of Uganda. The French oil giant plans to build the longest heated pipeline in the world, to link the fields of Lake Albert to the Indian Ocean. Last year, 10 billion euros were put on the table by the group.
Announced for 2025, “the project should not be completed”, hammers HRW. The report of the human rights NGO is based on more than 90 interviews, conducted in particular with 75 displaced families, “who have received insufficient compensation from Total Energies” says a researcher quoted in the document. The French oil group denies this, judging its fair compensation paid to farmers.
HRW also estimates that this project will eventually displace more than 100,000 people. Moreover, EACOP “has caused food insecurity and household debt, contributed to children dropping out of school and is likely to have devastating effects on the environment”, judges the NGO. Another reason is however mentioned in the legal proceedings, launched since the end of June, against Total Energies. The French group is again sued by Ugandans and associations for “human rights violations”a few months after a first legal action, deemed inadmissible.