By Heba Aly
Dec. 1 (Bloomberg) -- Sudan’s government ordered the destruction of as many as 10,000 homes in a slum outside the capital, Khartoum, as part of an urban planning program, a local administration official said.
The campaign forced thousands of people to live in makeshift shelters made of sticks and cloth on the fringes of the Mandela settlement, 20 kilometers (12 miles) south of Khartoum, said former residents including Mary Deng and Ahmad Abderahim. The slum was formed in the early 1990s by migrants from the western region of Darfur and southern Sudan.
“The demolition came with the agreement of the people,” Madut Wek, a spokesman for Mandela’s so-called popular committee, a state-backed local authority that administers the settlement, said on Nov. 29. “When you live in a camp, you’re not comfortable. You’re not settled.”
Human rights groups, including Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, have previously accused President Umar al- Bashir’s administration of using dictatorial measures such as cracking down on the media and arbitrarily arresting dissidents to hold on to power.
Mandela, a series of crowded mud homes woven together by narrow sandy paths, has no streets, no state-provided electricity and no formal land ownership. Members of the popular committee said once demolition was complete, every resident with an identification card would be given a properly identified plot of land and homes would be rebuilt in an organized manner.
“This reorganizing will bring us water, electricity, transport,” Wek said.
4,000 Homes Destroyed
Francis Wani, a member of the popular committee, said 4,000 houses have already been destroyed and the remaining homes will be brought down in stages. The clearance began on the weekend of Nov. 22 and Nov. 23, the British Broadcasting Corp. reported on Nov. 29, without being more specific.
Ali Agab, legal aid coordinator at the Khartoum Center for Human Rights and Environmental Development, said the removal of residents of Mandela was one of a series of incidents in which the government was clearing land to sell to investors.
“After people have been living a long time in a certain area, after the land becomes of value, the government doesn’t care about where people go and how they will get services,” Agab said by phone from Khartoum. “They just kick people out.”
A spokesman at the Interior Ministry, which is responsible for the police, couldn’t immediately comment on the matter when called today in Khartoum.
Some residents said they were attacked by the police when they refused to move.
“If you refused to leave, they came with the bulldozer with you and your furniture inside,” said Deng, a mother of three, whose home was destroyed.
Residents said they feared they would not be allowed to return unless they could afford to pay the required sum and that their land would be sold to investors. They also expressed concern that their current living conditions may deteriorate.
“We’re worried about fires, about sickness, about criminals,” said Abderahim, a migrant from the Nuba Mountains in central Sudan. “If there is a fire, not one child will survive. These houses burn easily.”
To contact the reporter on this story:
Heba Aly in Khartoum via Johannesburg at
Source:(Bloomberg)
Newer articles:
- Will Supremes review Obama's citizenship arguments? - 06/12/2008 08:04
- ICC prosecutor warns UN against Sudan coverup - 04/12/2008 20:32
- Pagan Amum Shall not be Left Alone to Carry the Cross of Separation of South Sudan - 04/12/2008 20:23
- Search for Intelligent and Prudent Strategies for South Sudan Independence - 03/12/2008 13:21
- South Needs More Help to Rebuild Education, Roads, Health Care - UN Aid Chief - 02/12/2008 17:43
Older news items
- Minister Awut Deng: A New Iron Lady on a fake war on corruption - 01/12/2008 17:02
- Joseph Kony again failed to show up - 01/12/2008 10:42
- Death of Prominent Politician Deals Blow to Sudan's Opposition Party - 30/11/2008 06:41
- Peace in Sudan Should not be Destroyed with Politicized ICC Justice - 27/11/2008 20:09
- Independence of South Sudan is Not an Insult to Nuba and Funj - 25/11/2008 20:44
Latest news items (all categories):
- UAE company agreed to loan $13B to South Sudan in exchange for oil - 27/04/2024 16:44
- South Sudan auditor flags spending of IMF funds - 27/04/2024 16:41
- UN Aid Trucks Held up at South Sudan Border - 27/04/2024 16:37
- South Sudanese comedians find laughs in painful past - 27/04/2024 16:34
- The DRC had the world's biggest military spend increase last year – and South Sudan was second - 27/04/2024 16:29
Random articles (all categories):
- South Sudan — IOM Biometric Registration Update (March 2019) - 01/06/2019 00:07
- Qatar, South Sudan establish diplomatic relations - 11/09/2020 02:35
- South Sudan Cease-Fire: Field-Tested Approach to Make it Hold - 26/02/2015 20:08
- Lam Akol : Failed leadership turned hopes into nightmare - 31/08/2021 01:56
- عدوآ عاقل خير من صديق جاهل - 21/01/2009 21:31
Popular articles:
- The Final Communique of SPLM-DC Third Session of the National Council - 29/03/2011 01:00 - Read 75015 times
- Roles and Definition of Political Parties - 29/04/2011 01:00 - Read 59183 times
- Agriculture in Southern Sudan: Challenges and Investment Opportunities - 06/10/2010 01:45 - Read 40631 times
- Fashoda Youth Forum Rehabilitation of Drainage Culverts in Malakal town Report - 07/08/2008 16:22 - Read 29044 times
- Dozens of gunmen on horseback ambush peacekeepers - 24/05/2008 13:47 - Read 25866 times