Harare - A United Nations envoy this week met some of the multitudes of Zimbabweans left homeless in a so-called "urban renewal drive" by the government that has drawn international condemnation.
Anna Tibaijuka, who arrived last Sunday to assess the humanitarian effect of Operation Murambatsvina, or "drive out trash", toured the Caledonia Transit Camp on Friday where about 4 000 people are living in "difficult conditions" outside Harare, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said at UN headquarters in New York.
Tibaijuka also stopped off at demolition sites and places where the government was proposing to relocate people along the road to the eastern city of Mutare, Dujarric said.
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Police have torched and bulldozed tens of thousands of homes in the campaign to "clean up" shantytowns, markets and other structures they deem illegal. Humanitarian workers estimate that as many as 1,5 million people may have been left homeless in the operation that began on May 19. Many of them were forced at gunpoint to destroy their own houses. Several people were killed by falling rubble or in accidents involving vehicles used in the operation.
Tibaijuka said on Friday she was in Zimbabwe to talk to those affected and "assess how we can work together with local authorities, with government, to assist them".
The state-run The Herald newspaper quoted Tibaijuka on Friday as praising President Robert Mugabe's government for supplying building plots to some of the homeless. "Allocation of stands for housing is a reflection of the seriousness of government," she was quoted as saying. But the UN said its envoy's comments had been reported out of context.
"Her listening to the statements made by Zimbabwean ministers should in no way be seen as endorsing the government's policy," Dujarric said. "UN Habitat, the agency that she heads ... has clearly stated that forced eviction is one of the main barriers to any significant improvement for slum dwellers."
Stepped-up efforts by the state media to paint the Murambatsvina operation in a better light coincided with the announcement of Tibaijuka's visit. Shortly before she arrived, Mugabe launched a reconstruction campaign to accommodate "deserving" people who had lost their homes and livelihoods. He promised to build 2 million homes by 2010, a commitment economists say Mugabe cannot afford to keep.
The Herald did not report whether Tibaijuka commented on the evictions, but it quoted her as saying the reconstruction programme "is good. The vision is clear".
The opposition Movement for Democratic Change says the campaign is aimed at breaking up its strongholds among the urban poor and forcing its supporters into rural areas, where Mugabe's Zanu-PF dominates.
Tibaijuka said the operation had affected people from all walks of life and from different political parties. The majority were poor people who depended on the informal economy to survive. Rights groups, churches and most western countries have condemned the demolitions. On Friday the United States renewed its call for Zimbabwe to end the drive. - Sapa-AP
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