News

Reconstruction work begins in China’s quake-hit area

Published in Friday April 26th, 2013 In In the media

Chinese authorities in Sichuan province Friday began the reconstruction process in the wake of a deadly earthquake that killed 196 people and injured thousands. As teams kept up a desperate search and rescue effort for survivors in the southwestern province, hit by a 7-magnitude quake Saturday, provincial officials said post-quake reconstruction work cannot wait.

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Resident Groups Combat Spike in Evictions in Germany

Published in Friday April 26th, 2013 In In the media

Skyrocketing rents in many German cities are pitting residents against real estate developers and landlords. The recent death of an elderly woman forced out of her apartment has emboldened alliances to protest evictions with sit-ins.

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Come Grab Our Land

Published in Friday April 26th, 2013 In Opinion

Bordered by a rubber plantation in the west, a forestry plantation in the east and a palm oil farm in the south, the 18 local communities that live in Ocean Division, southern Cameroon, have had an uphill struggle for the rights to their land. In 2008, the government leased much of their forestland, about 47,000 hectares, to international company United Forest Cameroon.
But only through a sustained campaign and involvement by the Rights and Resources Initiative (RRI), a global coalition of organisations working to encourage forestland tenure, the communities were given back some of their land by a February 2012 prime ministerial decree.

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Mwingi Villagers Protest Court’s Eviction Order in Kenya

Published in Thursday April 25th, 2013 In In the media

More than 100 residents of Kawala in Mumoni district on Monday staged a sit in at the Mwingi law court premises protesting an order issued by the court to evict some of them. The group, that included uniformed school children, brought with them a memorandum addressed to Chief Justice Willy Mutunga.

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Residents of Guangzhou new town’s last urban village battle against eviction

Published in Thursday April 25th, 2013 In In the media

Angry Guangzhou natives in the ramshackle village of Tan, the last urban village left standing in the posh Zhujiang New Town, have stepped up their fight in court this week to protect their ancient homes. Four families from Tan appeared before the Guangzhou Intermediate People’s Court on Wednesday, trying to get their eviction orders overturned. And more than 200 people showed up from Tan and other urban villages that are seeing forced evictions without what the residents consider fair compensation.

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A terrace house for £1 or £250m – Britain’s bizarre housing crisis

Published in Wednesday April 24th, 2013 In In the media

News in austerity Britain is not short on grotesque juxtapositions, but there was one this week that was just so spectacular that it couldn’t pass without comment. In the same week, terrace houses were expected to change hands in different parts of the country for £250m and £1.

Forced evictions worsen the already dire lot of earthquake homeless in Haiti

Published in Wednesday April 24th, 2013 In Social movement news

Forced evictions in Haiti are worsening the already desperate situation of thousands of people still living in displacement camps more than three years after the devastating earthquake of January 2010, Amnesty International said as it launched the report ‘Nowhere to go’: Forced evictions in Haiti’s camps for displaced people.

Rebuilding the community of Meiktila, in Myanmar

Published in Wednesday April 24th, 2013 In In the media

After sectarian violence in the central Myanmar city of Meiktila, officials are working hard on reconstruction plans. The riots in March pitted Buddhists against Muslims, leaving dozens dead and a community in ruins. As you walk through the neighborhoods of Meiktila, it’s hard to escape the damage. A month after the violence here, burnt-down houses, destroyed businesses and torched cars dot the streetscape.

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‘We’ll throw you all out’ – Forced eviction threat for Haiti earthquake victims

Published in Wednesday April 24th, 2013 In Social movement news

Purported landowners use threats and intimidation to force people onto the street. Usually they have not initiated a judicial process to seek a legal eviction, and often they can’t even prove they have the legal title to the land they claim to own. In many cases, local police, judicial and municipal authorities are also involved in forced evictions or are present when threats are made. One thing they all have in common is the incapacity of central government authorities to protect displaced people from illegal eviction. Impunity of perpetrators remain blatant.

German municipalities demand affordable housing

Published in Tuesday April 23rd, 2013 In In the media

The association representing 3,400 German cities and towns has called on the federal government to hand over more former Cold War military sites such as barracks to provide affordable housing and tackle rising prices.

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