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 Zimbabwe: Rights Groups Demand Justice for Victims of Operation Murambatsvina
An international human rights organisation is leading demands for justice for the victims of Operation Murambatsvina, five years after the mass evictions took place.
Amnesty International and the Coalition Against Forced Evictions have this week called on Zimbabwe's unity government to provide adequate alternative accommodation or compensation to those left homeless and jobless. Amnesty's Zimbabwe researcher, Simeon Mawanza, told SW Radio Africa on Wednesday that the unity government has made no attempt to find a permanent solution for these victims, explaining how tens of thousands of people have been affected by Operation Murambatsvina.
"Five years on, victims are left to survive in plastic shacks without basic essential services. The needs of these victims are being forgotten because their voices are consistently ignored," said Mawanza.
On May 18th 2005 the ZANU PF government began demolishing informal settlements across the country in a 'clean up' exercise. The program affected more than 700,000 people, leaving them without a home or livelihood or both. Mawanza said that most of the victims "have been driven deeper into poverty by the forced evictions, a situation which has been further compounded by Zimbabwe's economic crisis."
The government claimed it was embarking on a re-housing programme later in 2005, after widespread local and international condemnation of Operation Murambatsvina. That exercise, Operation Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle, was meant to provide shelter for the victims and improve their living conditions. But Mawanza said it was a "dismal failure and now appears to have been abandoned."
"The few houses that were built under the Garikai/Hlalani Kuhle scheme are completely un-inhabitable," he said. "They have no floors, windows, water or toilets. Communities living in designated resettlement areas are dependent on humanitarian assistance and self help initiatives for their survival."
Mawanza explained how those affected by Operation Murambatsvina "rapidly became invisible," as they were forced to relocate to rural areas, or were absorbed into existing overcrowded urban housing or pushed into government designated settlements. Those still in cities remain at risk of further forced evictions with no security of tenure. In 2009, the Harare council attempted to remove some of the victims of the 2005 forced evictions, but was forced to reverse the decision amid protest from housing and human rights organisations.
"Since its creation in February 2009, the unity government has done nothing to improve the plight of survivors of the forced evictions and their children who have been born in informal settlements," Mawanza said.
The forced evictions drove people not only from their homes, but also from their market stalls, depriving informal traders of their means of earning a living. When informal traders have tried to resuscitate their trade they have been persistently obstructed by the authorities, facing arrest and imprisonment. Mawanza also explained how children born into the situation have had no schooling, leaving an entire generation with little hope for the future.
"The deplorable living conditions and struggle for survival, which victims of Operation Murambatsvina continue to face, reveals the government's failure to address ongoing injustices against some of the most vulnerable members of Zimbabwean society," Mawanza said.
(2010-05-20/ AllAfrica.com)
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