This archive report was first published on 1 July 2020.
More than 40,000 people across East Africa have been forcibly evicted from their homes since March, putting them at risk of contracting COVID-19, charities warned on Wednesday, July 1, 2020.
Evictions have been particularly devastating in Somalia, where communities already displaced by violence, droughts, and floods have been worst hit. In Kenya and Ethiopia, people living in informal settlements have also seen their homes demolished.
“Evictions expose vulnerable people to greater risk of infection as they are forced into more crowded and unsanitary conditions,” said Evelyn Aero, NRC’s legal assistance regional advisor in East Africa.
Charities are calling for a moratorium on all evictions during the coronavirus crisis, citing the increased risk of infection for displaced communities. They point out that evicted people do not have a financial safety net, many having already lost their jobs due to the pandemic and finding themselves homeless, hungry, and at risk of ill-health.
CRAMPED SPACES ¶
The majority of evictions were in Somalia, where forced evictions of displaced people living in informal camps on private land are common. More than 34,700 people have been evicted by landowners from their homes in cities such as Mogadishu, Baidoa, and Hargeisa since the pandemic was declared in March.
In Kenya, about 7,000 people – including many single mothers and children – had their homes bulldozed in May when authorities ignored a court order and demolished hundreds of homes in Nairobi’s Kariobangi and Ruai areas. City authorities said the homes were on public land, but some evicted residents said they bought the land legally.
Local activists in Kenya are calling on authorities across the region to follow the example set by Uganda and Somalia’s Baidoa district and ban evictions during the pandemic.
