A
A Texan from Connecticut
Guest
Houston Community News >> Beijing Games Forces Millions Homeless
6/7/2007-- WANG Baoguan burned himself to death while being forcibly
evicted from his Beijing home to make way for the city's construction
project for the 2008 Olympic Games which China hopes will confirm its
status as a global power.
He is just one of the estimated 1.5 million residents of Beijing who
will be displaced or evicted from their homes - many of them against
their will - before next year's Olympics, the Geneva-based Centre on
Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) said this week. "The prospect of
being forcibly evicted can be so terrifying that it is not uncommon
for people to risk their lives in an attempt to resist; or even more
extreme, to take their own lives when it becomes apparent that the
eviction cannot be prevented," said a report compiled by COHRE
following an investigation into the alleged harassment and physical
violence to which those residents who resist eviction, known as
dingzihu, are subjected.
China has denied the criticisms. Beijing's Olympic organizing
committee and China's foreign ministry said the figures were vastly
inflated, with only 6,037 people displaced since 2002 for the
construction of Olympic stadiums.
"During the process, the citizens have had their compensation property
settled," said a foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu. "No single
person was forced to move out of Beijing."
However, in a case study in the COHRE report on the Beijing
neighborhood of Hujialou which has been marked for demolition,
residents told researchers how the area has been transformed into a
slum by the demolition-relocation company which removed windows and
steel safety doors from all buildings, removed manhole covers and
exterior lighting, and scattered debris in the stairways of buildings
where roughly one third of the original population continue to live.
Many are vulnerable and include the handicapped and chronically ill,
the unemployed, school-age children and elderly people living on
meager pensions.
"Residents also complained that the demolition company had hired thugs
to harass residents at night, physically attacking some of the most
outspoken critics of the demolitions and dumping rubbish and
defecating in doorways at night," the report said.
Over the winter when temperatures hovered around freezing, residents
had to contend without heating or electricity, low water pressure and
the constant risk of fire.
Their appeals to the local residents' committee, local officials and
the mayor's office have apparently fallen on deaf ears as residents
say the committee has been bribed by the demolition company to ignore
complaints.
Recourse to adequate compensation varied widely, the housing rights
watchdog said, adding that those who suffer a significant decline in
their living conditions as a result of their relocation could be as
high as 20 percent.
The International Olympic Committee said it was seeking a better
understanding of how mega-events like the Olympics impact displacement
through a meeting with the UN Special Rapporteur for Adequate Housing.
"As a matter of principle, how the Olympic Games impact people's lives
is an important matter for the IOC," said its communications director,
Giselle Davies.
THE NUMBERS GAME
1,500,000
Residents displaced or evicted to make way for building work,
according to human rights campaigners
6,037
Residents displaced or evicted, according to the Chinese government
80,000
Seats in the new Beijing National Stadium
30,000
Residents displaced by the effects of construction work in advance of
the 1996 Games in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
20
Families evicted in Barcelona and 200 others relocated to make way for
ring-roads leading up to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
40%
The rise in rents in Sydney between 1996 and 2003, during which time
the 'Olympic effect' forced many families to move to the Australian
city's fringe.
85,100
Miles to be traveled by the Olympic torch in the run-up to next year's
Games
6/7/2007-- WANG Baoguan burned himself to death while being forcibly
evicted from his Beijing home to make way for the city's construction
project for the 2008 Olympic Games which China hopes will confirm its
status as a global power.
He is just one of the estimated 1.5 million residents of Beijing who
will be displaced or evicted from their homes - many of them against
their will - before next year's Olympics, the Geneva-based Centre on
Housing Rights and Evictions (COHRE) said this week. "The prospect of
being forcibly evicted can be so terrifying that it is not uncommon
for people to risk their lives in an attempt to resist; or even more
extreme, to take their own lives when it becomes apparent that the
eviction cannot be prevented," said a report compiled by COHRE
following an investigation into the alleged harassment and physical
violence to which those residents who resist eviction, known as
dingzihu, are subjected.
China has denied the criticisms. Beijing's Olympic organizing
committee and China's foreign ministry said the figures were vastly
inflated, with only 6,037 people displaced since 2002 for the
construction of Olympic stadiums.
"During the process, the citizens have had their compensation property
settled," said a foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu. "No single
person was forced to move out of Beijing."
However, in a case study in the COHRE report on the Beijing
neighborhood of Hujialou which has been marked for demolition,
residents told researchers how the area has been transformed into a
slum by the demolition-relocation company which removed windows and
steel safety doors from all buildings, removed manhole covers and
exterior lighting, and scattered debris in the stairways of buildings
where roughly one third of the original population continue to live.
Many are vulnerable and include the handicapped and chronically ill,
the unemployed, school-age children and elderly people living on
meager pensions.
"Residents also complained that the demolition company had hired thugs
to harass residents at night, physically attacking some of the most
outspoken critics of the demolitions and dumping rubbish and
defecating in doorways at night," the report said.
Over the winter when temperatures hovered around freezing, residents
had to contend without heating or electricity, low water pressure and
the constant risk of fire.
Their appeals to the local residents' committee, local officials and
the mayor's office have apparently fallen on deaf ears as residents
say the committee has been bribed by the demolition company to ignore
complaints.
Recourse to adequate compensation varied widely, the housing rights
watchdog said, adding that those who suffer a significant decline in
their living conditions as a result of their relocation could be as
high as 20 percent.
The International Olympic Committee said it was seeking a better
understanding of how mega-events like the Olympics impact displacement
through a meeting with the UN Special Rapporteur for Adequate Housing.
"As a matter of principle, how the Olympic Games impact people's lives
is an important matter for the IOC," said its communications director,
Giselle Davies.
THE NUMBERS GAME
1,500,000
Residents displaced or evicted to make way for building work,
according to human rights campaigners
6,037
Residents displaced or evicted, according to the Chinese government
80,000
Seats in the new Beijing National Stadium
30,000
Residents displaced by the effects of construction work in advance of
the 1996 Games in Atlanta, Georgia, United States.
20
Families evicted in Barcelona and 200 others relocated to make way for
ring-roads leading up to the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
40%
The rise in rents in Sydney between 1996 and 2003, during which time
the 'Olympic effect' forced many families to move to the Australian
city's fringe.
85,100
Miles to be traveled by the Olympic torch in the run-up to next year's
Games