Yahoo News on “Slum clearance” in Zimbabwe:
Zimbabwe’s destruction of urban slums is a “disastrous venture” that has left 700,000 people without homes or jobs, violated international law and created a grave humanitarian crisis, a harshly worded U.N. report said Friday. […] The report detailed the devastating extent of Operation Murambatsvina, or Drive Out Trash, for the first time. It said a further 2.4 million people have been affected by the countrywide campaign that began with little warning on May 19 and has seen thousands of shantytowns, ramshackle markets and makeshift homes demolished. “While purporting to target illegal dwellings and structures and to clamp down on alleged illicit activities, (the operation) was carried out in an indiscriminate and unjustified manner, with indifference to human suffering,” the report said.
[…] Annan urged Zimbabwe to stop the destruction and sought to shift the attention from blame to rebuilding. “Criticism, while fully justified, is not enough,” Annan said in a statement. “We have a duty to help those in need.”
[…] The state-owned Herald quoted the country’s U.N. representative, Boniface Chidyausiku, as saying: “The President will make a comment at the appropriate time. Zimbabwe is not under any inquisition to warrant 48 hours of responding.” He demanded the international community raise funds so Zimbabwe can provide cheaper housing for its people. “One would call upon Britain and the European Union to stop their campaign to vilify our economy. Were it not for their sanctions, our economy wouldn’t be where it is today.” […]
[Opposition legislator Trudy Stevenson of the Movement for Democratic Change] welcomed Tibaijuka’s description of the evictions as a breach of international law, recalling they left at least 20,000 of her constituents without shelter in the midwinter cold. The sick and elderly had died and children had been left orphaned, she said. “So let’s get them (the government) in the international courts,” Stevenson said. Stevenson’s MDC alleged that “Operation Murambatsvina” aimed to victimize those who voted for the opposition in March 31 parliamentary elections and drive them back to rural areas, where they could be intimidated by blocking their access to relief food.
[…] U.N. agencies estimate 4 million Zimbabweans need relief following the seizure of 5,000 white-owned farms and the collapse of the agricultural-based economy.
[…] African nations on the 15-member Security Council have so far kept the crisis in Zimbabwe off the council’s agenda. But several U.N. diplomats said they are hoping to get Tibaijuka to brief members on the report next week.
From Cox and Forkum:
