Evictions forced Zimbabweans into sex industry

MASS evictions in Zimbabwe six years ago have left thousands of displaced children without education and even forced some to seek work in the sex industry to support their families, rights group Amnesty International said.

The government at the time said the nationwide eviction of 700,000 people from homes and market stalls in urban centres was intended to clear slums. The programme was called Operation Murambatsvina, which in the Shona language means “clean out the filth”.

Amnesty said that demolished schools were not replaced and adequate schooling was not provided for the children. Many of their parents lost their livelihoods and could no longer pay for school. That “struck a devastating blow to the lives and dreams of thousands of children,” it said.

Critics said the evictions were politically motivated to disrupt burgeoning urban opposition to President Robert Mugabe ahead of 2005 elections.

Amnesty said many of those evicted who were promised plots of land and basic housing still live in poorly built shacks without access to sanitation, utilities, roads or public transport.

Children looked for casual work to help feed their families, it said. Young women interviewed spoke of deciding to get married because they could no longer go to school, Amnesty said.

The statement quoted one saying she married at 17: “I married so I could have someone to provide for me. I did not want to go into sex work like most of the girls who dropped out of school.”

“It is appalling that a government can get away with making life harder for its poorest and most vulnerable people,” said Michelle Kagari, Amnesty’s deputy Africa director.

Meanwhile, the power-sharing deal brokered between Morgan Tsvangirai and Mugabe in 2009 has been plagued by disputes and Mugabe has called for fresh elections next year.