Zimbabwe forced flood victim removals

The Zimbabwe government used violence and restricted humanitarian aid to force about 20 000 flood victims to resettle on tiny plots earmarked for a sugar cane plantation, Human Rights Watch said on Tuesday.

The one-hectare plots are on a farm that has close links to President Robert Mugabe’s ruling Zanu-PF party, the rights group said in a 57-page report.

Under the government’s plans, the flood victims are required to grow sugar cane on Nuanetsi Ranch in the southeastern Masvingo province to contribute to a government-owned ethanol project.

“The Zimbabwean government has stopped at nothing to coerce 20 000 flood victims to accept a resettlement package that provides labour for a government project, but leaves the flood victims utterly destitute,” HRW’s Dewa Mavhinga.

“The Zimbabwean government should immediately give the victims adequate aid without conditions and compensate them fairly for their losses.”

Mavhinga told a news conference that the villagers were displaced from their homes a year ago when floods hit the Tokwe-Mukorsi dam construction area, in Masvingo province.

Mugabe declared the floods a national disaster and appealed for $20m from donor agencies to assist in relocating the villagers.

Despite promises of compensation and new houses for the displaced villagers, nothing has been done, HRW said.

“They [the villagers] do not have access to adequate food, shelter, sanitation and potable water,” Mavhinga said, adding that the villagers were living in tents…

Source

South Africa Today Africa – Southern Africa Zimbabwe News