What seems to be an ongoing program of forced evictions and demolitions is unrelenting in Cameroon.
Most recently, between 22 and 26 November 2010, the Pre-Sessional Working Group of the Committee on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights held its meeting in order to compile a list of questions to present to the government of Cameroon in November 2011, when the Committee will examine the periodic report of Cameroon concerning its implementation of the Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights. Just when the working group consulted the parallel report on the housing situation presented by the authors of this press release, new evictions took place in Deido neighborhood, in Douala.
During the year 2010 about to end, the two main cities of Cameroon, Yaoundé (the political capital) and Douala (the economic capital) have been increasingly subject to forced evictions and demolitions, sometimes forcing people into inhumane conditions. Early this year, Yaounde’s Messa-Lissouck and Mfandena districts were demolished between February and March.
In Douala, local residents of the Bois des Singes neighborhood have received a notice asking them to leave the area in June. In the districts of Vita Road, Bassa-Kongui, Newtown Aéroport and the Railway Properties of Bessengué and Bonaberi, authorities are currently demolishing some homes, while others are awaiting destruction. Since 5 November, the eviction of 20 families in the PK 10 district in Douala also became imminent.
To read the press release, l click here