Forced evictions on the rise-Amnesty International
- 12 years ago
Amnesty International has released footage of people being thrown out of their homes in China-- forceably evicted by government authorities in a practice that's on the rise, the group says.
A report released Thursday says more and more people are being forcibly removed from their homes by local governments who are trying to reclaim the land to sell off to developers.
The report says often, local governments need money fast to meet the demands of an ambitious infrastructure project laid out by Beijing.
Amnesty's Senior Director of Research Nicola Duckworth.
(SOUNDBITE)(English) AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL SENIOR DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH, NICOLA DUCKWORTH, SAYING:
"Our research has shown that one of the key drivers behind this is that local authorities have taken on huge debts and are now seeking to finance those debts by seizing and selling off land in suspect deals with property developers and it is one of the quickest ways to offset those debts."
Although the Chinese government says they have enacted laws to prevent violent forced evictions, Amnesty says its too little too late.
Of the some 40 eviction cases Amnesty examined, nine resulted in the deaths of people protesting or resisting eviction.
A report released Thursday says more and more people are being forcibly removed from their homes by local governments who are trying to reclaim the land to sell off to developers.
The report says often, local governments need money fast to meet the demands of an ambitious infrastructure project laid out by Beijing.
Amnesty's Senior Director of Research Nicola Duckworth.
(SOUNDBITE)(English) AMNESTY INTERNATIONAL SENIOR DIRECTOR OF RESEARCH, NICOLA DUCKWORTH, SAYING:
"Our research has shown that one of the key drivers behind this is that local authorities have taken on huge debts and are now seeking to finance those debts by seizing and selling off land in suspect deals with property developers and it is one of the quickest ways to offset those debts."
Although the Chinese government says they have enacted laws to prevent violent forced evictions, Amnesty says its too little too late.
Of the some 40 eviction cases Amnesty examined, nine resulted in the deaths of people protesting or resisting eviction.