Angola & Cabinda (catch all)

[Jedburgh]

HRW, May 07: Forced Evictions and Insecure Land Tenure for Luanda’s Urban Poor

In Luanda, Angola’s capital, the government has forcibly and violently evicted thousands of people living in informal housing areas with little or no notice. In violation of Angola’s own laws and its international human rights obligations, the government has destroyed houses, crops and residents’ personal possessions without due process and has rarely provided compensation.

The evictions have taken place in a city where the majority of the population lives in informal housing areas with lack of clarity over land possession and ownership, and consequent insecurity of land tenure. The victims are poor and vulnerable Angolans. They include women supporting families on their own, elderly persons and children. Many fled to Luanda during the country’s long civil war, seeking shelter and protection from conflict zones or from agricultural areas destroyed by fighting and insecurity. The government’s large scale evictions have resulted in further displacement and left many individuals homeless and destitute with no access to legal remedy.

This report focuses on 18 mass evictions carried out by the government between 2002 and 2006 documented by Human Rights Watch and the Angolan organization SOS Habitat....

[Stan]

Hi Ted !

A ton of money and great reading for folks like me with ensomnia. This entire report (it’s a very large file at 103 pages) merely reminds me of Zäire following 3 civil wars. The majority of the foreign community evacuated within weeks and the property, regardless of ownership, fell prey to locals having no other place to go.

Africans truly live by ‘squatter’s rights’ up and to the point the Minister's henchmen come a callin'.

Much like all of post-conflict Sub-Sahara, the government officials are having a field day obtaining former foreign-owned properties and performing outright evictions. It’s a Minister’s right (there) !

I beg to see the legal or otherwise ‘Western-style’ usefulness (yes, I spent way too much time in Africa) in issuing legal warrants to move, knowing only to well, they will never move.

Nichols and Tom can provide you with WAWA ROE. It’s actually quite simple…jungle rules apply

[Jedburgh]

Interesting discussion thread from another forum on a dirt bike tour through Angola, hat tip to the INTELST for pointing the way.

This trip was going to be different.

I for one, have never updated my will before any other trip. And I wasn't alone. Out of the five of us that were going, three updated their wills and/or life insurance policies in the weeks before we left.

Where were we going?

Angola

Lots of great photos in the thread.

[selil]

I know a lot of the AdvRider guys. Not those guys specifically but there are several that have been some mighty strange places.