August 31/2007

 ARBITRARY ACTION AGAINST HOMELESS,URBAN POOR, CONDEMNED

The tragedy has repeated itself: the previous regime removed beggars from the city and blocked famine-stricken people from entering the capital city,Addis Ababa, because it was celebrating the founding of the unique ruling party. The present regime has now taken the same action: to celebrate its so-called Millennium, it has launched a cruel operation of rounding up the poor, the homeless and the beggars from the city to take all these back to the rural areas. This is a gross violation of the right of the poor and defenseless people. There are also reports that sex workers have also been taken out of the Mercato area in a similar way.

 There is a concerted  effort to present the illegal removal of the poor from the capital city as a voluntary action involving only those who agree to be resettled. But this is not true. If there was really concern for the beggars and the homeless why is it being shown now? The operation is to clean the City and to project a false image as if there are no beggars,no homeless and no rampant child and adult prostituion. The allegation that the removed will be resettled at a considerable cost and helped to lead a decent life is also baseless given the increasing impoverishment of the people at large and the known callousness of the regime itself. For the Meles Zenawi regime, which is spending millions of Birr as people starve, what is at stake is not the welfare of the poor but the projection of a false image of the City inhabited by millions of poor people

 SOCEPP condemns the illegal action being taken by the regime in Addis Abeba against the poor and defenseless people. It calls on all not to be duped by the false propaganda of voluntary move from the City to the rural areas. The impoverishment of the people is caused by the bad policies of the regime in the first place.

SOCEPP