Kenya: Nairobi's poorest face eviction threat

 LETTER 

The Deep Sea settlement is a shanty-town in the Westlands borough of Nairobi. Its 7,000 residents live under constant threat of illegal forced eviction as private companies attempt to gain land for development. Government officials, police and others who support and carry out these evictions face no legal repercussions, while the residents live in fear that their homes could be destroyed at any time. Send a letter to the Kenyan authorities to stop forced evictions now

UPDATE 5 OCTOBER: WORLD HABITAT DAY

Watch a short clip about forced evictions in Africa.

Watch more documentaries on forced evictions in Africa

UPDATE: APRIL 2009
Deep Sea community residents Nyamalo and Opiata, visited Amnesty International UK office. They also were key speakers at the Amnesty UK annual general meeting in Swansea.

Background information

The Deep Sea settlement has grown up since Kenyan independence in 1963. People moving to the capital to look for work set up a few small dwellings on untitled forest land and the settlement rapidly became home to an estimated 7,000 people.

Under Kenyan law, the residents should have the right to obtain legal title over the land after living there for 12 years. However, it recently came to light that a private company had acquired title to the land. Many in the community suspect that the company was formed by a group of the settlement’s affluent neighbours, who wish to get rid of Deep Sea and profit from the prime real estate it lies on.

In 2005 a private firm – with police support – moved into the settlement with bulldozers in the middle of the night and began evicting hundreds of people without notice, demolishing their houses. Media attention halted the evictions, but the residents who had lost their homes had to move in with neighbours and family, and many still lack homes of their own.

The Kenyan High Court ruled that the evictions were illegal because no court order had been issued. However, the ruling did not stop further evictions taking place.

Community leaders who have attempted to organise against the evictions have been targeted for eviction and harassed by the authorities, and some have had their houses set on fire. Residents, including children and the elderly, have been tear-gassed during evictions and protesters at a recent peaceful demonstration were beaten.

The fear of eviction is not the only problem the Deep Sea residents face. The settlement has no electricity, hardly any fresh water and no refuse collection. Roads are non-existent. Worst of all, it has no sewage system: effluent flows through the settlement and pollutes the water supply used for washing.

Most houses are made of scrap metal, canvas and plastic and many are not water- proof. Health problems are rife. Community members suffer from waterborne illnesses such as hepatitis A, cholera and diarrhoea, as well as HIV/AIDS and malnutrition. The church-run health centre and infant school in the settlement are not adequate for the population.

Local non-governmental organisations are calling for a moratorium on forced evictions for the Deep Sea settlement, coupled with a government programme of ‘comprehensive upgrading’ to provide affordable and decent housing by improving existing sites.

More on poverty and human rights

 LETTER 

The Deep Sea settlement is a shanty-town in the Westlands borough of Nairobi. Its 7,000 residents live under constant threat of illegal forced eviction as private companies attempt to gain land for development. Government officials, police and others who support and carry out these evictions face no legal repercussions, while the residents live in fear that their homes could be destroyed at any time. Send a letter to the Kenyan authorities to stop forced evictions now

UPDATE 5 OCTOBER: WORLD HABITAT DAY

Watch a short clip about forced evictions in Africa.

Watch more documentaries on forced evictions in Africa

UPDATE: APRIL 2009
Deep Sea community residents Nyamalo and Opiata, visited Amnesty International UK office. They also were key speakers at the Amnesty UK annual general meeting in Swansea.

Send the appeal below to the Kenyan authorities, by post, calling on them to prevent all further evictions from the Deep Sea Settlement.

TIME SAVERS  If you'd like to get together with some friends and send appeal letters as a group we've prepared some time savers for you. You can download address labels for this case (Word - for L1760 size label) to save you doing them all by hand.

WANT TO DO MORE?  Send a message of solidarity to the Deep Sea residents