The UN Human Rights Office (OHCHR) says an Israeli draft bill calling for the demolition of dozens of Bedouin villages in the Negev Desert is threatening the eviction and forcible displacement of over 35,000 Arab Bedouins.

The Negev Desert, which covers more than half of Israel’s land area, is home to Arab Bedouins who have inhabited the land for many centuries. According to the spokesperson for the Human Rights Office, Rupert Colville, the Arab Bedouins are living in this most difficult land area which other people didn’t really covet and nobody was after their land in the past. He cautions that this law could very well lead to a whole scale removal of Bedouins from their historic land.

Rupert Colville spoke to UN Radio’s Patrick Maigua in Geneva about the situation.

Duration: 4’58”