Asylum seekers in Coventry tell their stories

Coventry Telegraph – ROSE didn’t come to the UK as a refugee. She moved with her young family on a working visa when her husband was offered a job as a scientist in a Midlands hospital.

The couple had their second child within a year of moving.

Where do migrant workers live in a crowded, post-recession town?

OFF the road from Slough to Windsor to the west of London, behind a billboard for Furniture Village and under the stars, is Zdzistaw Karczynski’s home. His shelter lacks the fat beige sofa and soft carpet in the poster above him, but it is tidy enough: a single bed tucked under wooden struts against a park wall; an anorak drying on the line; a pot and a little cookstove ready for action; and, at a distance, a pile of unholy-looking rubbish topped by an eviscerated mattress.

Zdziko (his nickname), a bricklayer and plasterer in Poland, worked in Britain as a gardener until, two years ago, the jobs dried up. The 52-year-old has been sleeping rough for over a year. He hates the cold, and the thugs who recently beat him up.

Home to a large industrial estate, Slough has always welcomed immigrants, and felt more than most the rapid influx of east Europeans from 2004. Zdziko is one of dozens of migrants to Slough whom the economic downturn has made homeless. But hundreds who have jobs live in conditions that are almost as bad as his.

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Homeless migrants pressured into returning home

Twenty two rough sleeping EU migrants that had set up a camp in Peterborough have disbanded it after pressure from local residents .A UK Border Agency pilot scheme to deport homeless migrants has seen 28 people sent home.

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Proposed New General Elections: Any Hope for the Future?

By Mbiriyashe Chiratidzo Mungaraza

The post 2008 general election trauma is still haunting the entire majority of Zimbabweans. It was an election marred and characterised by unforeseen violence caused by Zanu PF with their intention to cling on to power until Kingdom come. Many people were beaten, tortured, maimed, and killed while others were left homeless with no hope for the future.

What is particularly worrying is Zanu PF’s belief that they can still win the forthcoming elections. It is still not clear whether these elections will be held any time soon. The truth is that Zanu PF will never relinquish power even if they are defeated. Their (Zanu PF) cronies who have ravaged the country’s economy and massacred innocent civilians will never allow a free and fair election. The truth is that Mugabe’s pensioners are aware that people are fed up with their tactics.

Vote rigging

The entire world is now aware that Zanu PF has been winning elections through rigging and violence. Mugabe and his allies would rather cling on the dysfunctional unity government rather than face humiliation. Despite the malfunctioning of the unity government, Mugabe is still adamant that he can still win back the hearts of electorate although he is reluctant to share power accordingly. He is still dictating the the pace and worse through the indiscriminate persecuting of his opponents.

If MDC really joined this Unity Government to save the country and its suffering people, then now is the right time to press hard for fresh, free and fair internationally supervised elections. People are geared up to defeat Zanu PF. There is no doubt Zanu PF is now very unpopular.

Ideally, MDC should be in the driving seat since they have the majority of seats in parliament but Mugabe and his thugs are still using their unscrupulous dictatorial tactics to maintain a stranglehold on the reigns of power. The way Mugabe is handling this unity government leaves a lot to be desired. There is no need for Tsvangirai to keep on compromising. It is now high time he should press for new elections. Zimbabweans have suffered enough and people’s rights continue to be abused with impunity, living in perpetual fear of their brutal leaders.

Economy

The economic recovery of the country is being jeopardised by the tensions within this so called unity government. The three parties involved are pulling in different directions threatening the already fragile coalition government with collapse. To worsen matters, Mugabe’s policy to grab 51 percent shareholding from any foreign investment makes Zimbabwe not only an unattractive destination for foreign investment, but also a no go area for those who respect the rule of law and property rights.

The longer Tsvangirai stays in this unity goverment, the harder it will be for him turn things around for the better. Notwithstanding the MDC’s involvement, Mugabe’s blood thirst rag tag army of party thugs and war veterans continue harass and brutalise defenceless civilians. It is high time that the MDC make a bold stand and force Mugabe to account by ensuring that a new constitution that guarantees free and fair elections is in place sooner rather than later.

International Observers

Previous elections have not been free and fair at all. They were mared by violence and the election observers were very incompetent. The Electoral Commision whose mandate is to supervise the conduct of the elections is largely pro-Zanu PF. So if ever a free and fair election is going to take place then, International monitors and observers are supposed to be involved at the earliest possible time. The current electoral system favours Zanu PF and it gives its supporters a free reign to cause mayhem with impunity.

As it stands, Mugabe will never support free and fair elections to take place because that will have disastrous consequences for his Party. He knows that once that is allowed to happen, this will mark the beginning of the end of his reign paving the way for a refreshingly better political
dispensation with safeguards for human rights and the much needed rule of law. The big question is; Can there be free and fair elections in Zimbabwe with the geriatric leader at the helm? Only time will tell.

Mbiriyashe Chiratidzo Mungaraza is a Zimbabwean based in Leicester

HAT News is precluded from expressing a corporate view: any opinions expressed are therefore those of the author.

No hope yet for the homeless

(IRIN) – In Hopley Farm, a resettlement camp about 10km south of Zimbabwe’s capital, Harare, Simon Dhewa’s chicken coup has been converted into a bedroom for his three daughters, the eldest of which also uses it as a venue for her commercial sex activities.

The 20-year-old is the sole bread winner for her 45-year-old widowed father, her two sisters and two brothers. The residents of Hopley Farm have nicknamed her “chicken”.

Her predicament can be traced back to 2005, when President Robert Mugabe’s ZANU-PF government launched Operation Murambatsvina (Drive out Filth), and the family dwelling, along with her father’s shoe repair business, was among the tens of thousands of urban structures that were demolished.

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Jobless Migrants Offered free Flights Home

The Guardian – Homeless east European migrants are being offered free flights back to their home country by a government-funded scheme set up to combat the rise of shanty towns in rural Britain.

The scheme, known as the National Reconnection Service, is expected to cost about £150,000 and is being trialled in Boston, Lincolnshire, and Peterborough, Cambridgeshire, two towns that have experienced a large influx of migrants seeking work.

In 2008, the government said that a quarter of Boston’s population was made up of migrants and that 65 languages could be heard in the streets and fields of the county. Workers came to the Lincolnshire town to pick fruit and vegetables, but the jobs dried up during the recession and many migrants returned home.

However, a significant number have remained, hoping that things would get better. As the economy faltered, some found themselves without work or any entitlement to social security benefits. Ultimately, a number became homeless. As a result, some of Boston’s residents now speak of a new phenomenon – shanty towns.

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Homeless put their hope in handmade bricks

Photo: IRIN

Laying bricks in Zimbabwe

BULAWAYO- The use of handmade bricks is revolutionizing housing in Chinhoyi, 120km north of the Zimbabwean capital, Harare, where housing estates built by poor people have mushroomed in a development that has caught the attention of the housing ministry.

“We hope to come up with a new dynamic housing policy that addresses the needs of the poor, together with enabling legislation on standards, as well as how the homeless can access affordable funding,” housing ministry secretary David Munyoro told IRIN.

“We also want to change the legal framework of housing delivery in Zimbabwe and learn from the best practices,” said the national housing and social amenities minister, Fidelis Mhashu.

The nationwide shortage of accommodation resulted from a lack of government investment in housing, and President Robert Mugabe’s Operation Murambatsvina (Drive out Trash) in May 2005.

Murambatsvina was launched on the premise of slum clearance, but was seen by analysts as retribution for city residents giving their support to the opposition Movement for Democratic Change (MDC). The evictions and demolition of homes and other buildings that began in urban centres and then spread across the country were condemned internationally; about 700,000 people were left homeless.

Before the operation began, more than 300,000 people in Harare were on the housing waiting list, but this is seen as a fraction of Zimbabwe’s housing deficit.

In 1999 Timothy Garamimba, in Chinhoyi, signed up to a government housing scheme in which prospective homeowners paid monthly instalments to a national housing fund while they waited for houses to be built.

The scheme collapsed, mired in corruption and allegations of abuse of funds, forcing the government to allocate residential stands in lieu of refunds to subscribers, on which they could build their own homes.

“We waived the bye-law concerning standard building material on residential stands in three of the suburbs [that the town] council was opening up, and allowed people to build using farm [handmade] bricks,” Chinhoyi’s town engineer, Pretty Masekesa, told IRIN.

The cheapest manufactured bricks cost US$0.23 each – US$230 per 1,000 bricks, the equivalent of about two months’ salary – compared to US$50 per 1,000 handmade bricks.

Homeowners have now built “farm brick” homes on more than 4,000 residential stands, but the local construction boom is also attributed to the presence of soils ideal for brick-making.

“You cannot tell those [houses] built with commercial bricks from the ones constructed of bricks that owners mould on their own,” said Garamimba, 30, standing ankle-deep in thick mud.

“Using these bricks has really cut my construction costs, because I can mould them myself or buy additional quantities from groups engaged in brick-moulding – it is way cheaper,” he told IRIN, pointing to a group of young men putting firewood into a kiln a short distance away.

It has been a long wait for Garamimba, who is building a three-bedroom house. “There is no security of tenure if you are a lodger, and nothing is as exciting as having a home of your own.”

Human Rights Group: Mass Evictions Pending

(VOA) – A human rights group is warning of another round of mass evictions in Zimbabwe’s capital.

Amnesty International says thousands of people in Harare may soon be kicked out of their stalls and homes.  It says most of those facing possible eviction were also targeted by the government in 2005, when hundreds of thousands of people were evicted.

“We’ve spoken very recently to the deputy mayor of the Harare City Council and it appears that an estimated 200 people from an informal settlement in the suburb of Gunhill…and then thousands of informal traders from across the city face being forcibly evicted,” says the London-based Amy Agnew, Amnesty’s campaigner for Zimbabwe.

Signs of pending evictions

“There have been a series of articles in the state newspaper, which is often a mouthpiece for…the intentions of the government,” she says.  “And we had this conversation directly with the deputy mayor himself, who confirmed that these are the plans.  And without putting a timeline on them [the deputy mayor] said that this was in line to take place.”

None of those facing possible eviction have received any notice or due process, says Agnew.

“The deputy mayor told Amnesty International that city authorities are considering evicting these people from what they call illegal settlements and marketplaces to restore order.”

She says the official said the people posed a health hazard.

Happening again?

“What we know is that most of the people at risk of these evictions were victims of Operation

Zimbabwe: Operation Murambatsvina at Cowdray Park. Photo from Amnesty International

Murambatsvina, which was the program of mass forced evictions…in 2005, implemented by the Zimbabwean government,” Agnew says.

An estimated 700,000 people were evicted from makeshift homes and stalls at that time.

“Some of them were actually put back to the settlements where they were forcibly evicted from, she says. “So the government came in, forcibly evicted them, trashed their homes and sent them off, many of them to their rural areas.”

But many returned

“Some…were then told to come back to the rubble of their former homes and rebuild.  Others stayed with relatives.  Others continue to live in absolute destitution…as a result of those evictions,’ she says.

Four years later, she says, they have not received any compensation.

“The government has an obligation not to carry out these kinds of evictions until all other feasible alternatives have been explored and until there’s been some kind of genuine consultation with the affected communities,” she says.

Before any eviction takes place, she says, there must be adequate notice and no one should be made homeless.

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Thousands homeless as shelters demolished in Juba

(IRIN) – The large-scale demolition of poor housing in the Southern capital, which has left thousands homeless, was inconsistent with Southern Sudanese law and international human rights standards, the UN said.

“More than 30,000 people, many of them internally displaced, have been left homeless and are living in poor sanitary conditions with all the health and environmental risks this entails,” the UN Mission in Sudan (UNMIS) said in a statement on 25 May.

International standards include reasonable prior notification and the possibility for the affected to challenge the decision. They also include provision of alternative land and compensation.

“Most of these standards recognised in Southern Sudan’s laws have not been met,” UNMIS said. “With the rainy season approaching, the UN is worried that there may be a sharp deterioration in the living conditions of these populations.”

The forced demolition of several small settlements in the Southern capital has been going on for four months, with bulldozers – supported by large numbers of armed police and soldiers – knocking flat thatched or tin shelters.

There was no immediate comment from the Central Equatoria State authorities that organised the exercise. They have, however, previously said they were only bulldozing houses built by squatters without permission.

Those affected said they had been left homeless with their livelihoods destroyed. “My shop was destroyed with my goods inside,” said Selim Lado Carlos, who claimed he received no warning of the clearances. “Many people, not only me, lost their property. We lost what we were hoping could improve our lives.”

Land ownership questions

Many of the tightly packed settlements were settled during Sudan’s long civil war. At that time, Juba was a garrison town for northern government forces, surrounded by the then southern rebels.

Other areas were settled more recently, as former refugees returned home to try to rebuild their lives with the end of Sudan’s civil war in 2005.

When they settled in the area during the chaotic years following the peace deal, locals said, there was little formal system to land ownership. Some said they had documents proving ownership, but were ignored by soldiers and forced to leave anyway.

Since the demolitions began, many of those affected have moved to Gudelle area on the very edge of Juba, some 6km from the town centre.

Lack of services

The original settlements had few services, but the new areas being settled lack any at all, the locals said. Many cannot afford the higher transport costs to reach their work in central Juba.

“Everywhere there are now houses being built in Gudelle, every day you see 10 new houses,” said Emmanuel Ayon, who works in a school in the rapidly growing area.

Photo: Peter Martel/IRIN

Schoolchildren in the Gudelle area of Juba, where some of the 30,000 left homeless by city demolitions have fled

“You hardly find a pit latrine – even at the school here – and yet the people still come because of the destruction.”

Ayon helped run the Mother and Children NGO, which supported school construction in Juba’s suburbs. Its office was destroyed in the demolitions – despite Ayon claiming the group had legal papers.

In recent months, the number of pupils at the school in Gudelle has doubled. “We have received no support from the authorities,” Ayon added. “Many people here are suffering very badly indeed.”

Demanding that the demolitions stop, UNMIS criticised the lack of alternatives that authorities should have provided to those forced to move, warning of the humanitarian impact.

The authorities, it said, should “take prompt and necessary steps to provide alternative land, adequate housing, access to basic services, and compensation to the large numbers of families who have been suddenly uprooted from their homes in the past four months”.

A Seasonal Celebration of Sanctuary