BETTER CITIES, BETTER LIFE by Amnesty International

Don’t deny one billion people’s rights

 source : http://www.amnesty.org/en/campaigns/demand-dignity/issues/slums/story

Every year on the first Monday of October, the world is asked to respect World Habitat Day and reflect on the state of our towns and cities. The UN has set the theme for this year as ‘Better City, Better Life’. For the one billion people who live in slums and informal settlements, this hope can only be realized if governments stop denying them their human rights.

From Europe to Africa, Amnesty International has documented how governments violate the right to adequate housing and carry out forced evictions of people living in slums and informal settlements, driving them deeper into poverty. Forced evictions often result in people losing not just their homes, but also their possessions, their social networks, and their access to work and services.

People living in such marginalized and impoverished communities, in both the richest and poorest countries of the world, talk of the same experiences of daily human rights violations.

SLUM STORIES by Amnesty International

SLUM STORIES

Personal Stories: What Rights Mean on the Ground

        source: http://www.amnesty.org/en/campaigns/demand-dignity/issues/slums/cases

MARIA SEBASTIAO ANTONIO, OF BANGA WE, NEAR LUANDA, ANGOLA 

Several attempts were made to evict Maria Sebastião António, a 31-year-old mother of three, her family and more than 500 neighbours from their homes in Banga Wé, near Luanda, in order to make room for the Nova Vida (New Life) housing project. This is her story.

“I have lived in Banga Wé all my life. I was born here. From 2004 until 2006 there were demolitions here. We were not even warned about the demolitions. We were just taken by surprise. We had to go to work every day and never knew whether we would find our homes when we returned.

“I used to have a house made of [concrete] blocks, but it was destroyed in the demolitions in November 2005. I was pregnant with my youngest child at the time. They destroyed my house made of blocks but did not touch the zinc sheets used for the roof, so we used them to build a house of zinc… they came back about six days later to destroy the zinc houses as well…I was taken to the police station because I resisted the demolitions and was threatened. A police officer said to me, “The police do not beat on the streets; they beat in the esquadra [police station].” Luckily another police officer stopped him from beating me.

“Before the elections in 2008, the Director of the Nova Vida housing project called a meeting and told us we would be moved to new houses in Zango III, but nothing has happened. We don’t have water. Our children are not allowed to study. The Nova Vida School is not even allowing our children to register. The other schools are too far away. The worst thing is that there is still no solution to this problem.”

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