ZIMBABWE: A U.N. ENVOY MEETS WITH SOME OF THE 300,000 ZIMBABWEANS LEFT HOMELESS BY THEIR GOVERNMENT'S DEMOLITION OF THEIR SHANTY HOMES
Record ID:
647900
ZIMBABWE: A U.N. ENVOY MEETS WITH SOME OF THE 300,000 ZIMBABWEANS LEFT HOMELESS BY THEIR GOVERNMENT'S DEMOLITION OF THEIR SHANTY HOMES
- Title: ZIMBABWE: A U.N. ENVOY MEETS WITH SOME OF THE 300,000 ZIMBABWEANS LEFT HOMELESS BY THEIR GOVERNMENT'S DEMOLITION OF THEIR SHANTY HOMES
- Date: 1st July 2005
- Summary: (BN15) CAMP CALEDONIA, NEAR HARARE, ZIMBABWE (JULY 01, 2005) (REUTERS - ACCESS ALL) 1. SLV OF THE CALEDONIA SIGN BOARD 0.06 2. LV/SLV CAMP CALEDONIA (2 SHOTS) 0.22 3. SLV MAN CYCLING PAST TENTS, SHACKS 0.25 4. SV WOMAN SINGING AND CUTTING BREAD 0.31 5. SV PEOPLE QUEUING FOR FOOD 0.39 6. SV UN SPECIAL ENVOY ANNA TIBAIJUKA WALKING AROUND THE THE CAMP, SPEAKING TO A POLICE OFFICER 0.50 7. SV PEOPLE SEATED AND EATING 0.58 8. MCU (English) UN SPECIAL ENVOY ANNA TIBAIJUKA SAYING: "It is very clear, they all seem to be anxious to get their things improved. When I asked them whether they were happy, I got a resounding 'No'. Definitely there are challenges that we have to workout" 1.15 9. MCU (English) EDMORE JAMES, CALEDONIA RESIDENT SAYING: "We are living in open spaces, there is no shelter at all" 1.24 10. SLV OF PEOPLE WITH THEIR BELONGINGS AROUND THE OPEN SPACE (2 SHOTS) 1.37 11. MCU (English) AN UNIDENTIFIED MAN SAYING: "I have nowhere to go, I just need my stand because I was allocated by government." 1.45 12. SV CHILDREN STANDING AROUND 1.52 Initials Script is copyright Reuters Limited. All rights reserved
- Embargoed: 16th July 2005 13:00
- Keywords:
- Location: CAMP CALEDONIA, NEAR HARARE, ZIMBABWE
- Country: Zimbabwe
- Reuters ID: LVA8XG28PVJLN5H9WR14WFUMOZ74
- Story Text: A U.N. envoy meets with some of the 300,000
Zimbabweans left homeless by their government's demolition
of their shanty homes.
Anna Tibaijuka, sent by United Nations
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, visited a camp at Caledonia
Farm, a former commercial farm 25 km (16 miles) southeast
of Harare where some 4,000 people have been moved after
their homes were destroyed.
Tibaijuka walked among makeshift tents made from old
plastic bags as men, women and small children huddled
around small fires trying to keep away the early morning
winter chill.
"The challenges are quite enormous so we have to work
together to improve the situation for everybody," said
Tibaijuka, who met on Wednesday with President Robert
Mugabe for what she said then had been "constructive
discussions".
But meeting homeless people on Friday, Tibaijuka had
little immediate relief for them except for bread and fruit
juice that her entourage brought the camp's residents for
breakfast.
"It is very clear they all seem to be anxious to get
their things improved - when I asked were they happy I got
a resounding 'no'. Definitely there are challenges that we
have to work out," Tibaijuka said.
On Thursday Amnesty International and Action Aid said
at least three people, including a pregnant woman and a
child, had been killed when police razed scores of houses
at a squatter camp near Harare, which Tibaijuka visited
late Thursday.
Mugabe's ZANU-PF government, which extended its 25-year
grip on power by another five years in March elections the
opposition said were rigged, rejects criticism of the
demolitions.
It says the clean up exercise is meant to rid the
country of illegal settlements it says had become a haven
for crime including illegal trade in scarce hard currency
and food. Critics blame the seizure of white-owned commercial
farms for blacks for exacerbating the effects of drought.
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change says well
over 1.5 million people have been displaced and that the
crackdown its meant to punish its supporters in urban
strongholds where it kept most of its parliamentary seats.
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