Kenyan groups protest government evictions of 18,000 people

NAIROBI, Kenya – Eight human rights groups say Kenya’s government is violating the rights of nearly 18,000 people who have been evicted from their homes in the last two weeks to protect a forest and construct a road.

Amnesty International and other groups said Wednesday that at least 10,000 people were left homeless when they were evicted from Nairobi’s Kibera slum where the government plans to build a road. They accused the authorities of going against a court order prohibiting government from evicting residents from the area without a resettlement plan.

In western Kenya, at least 7,888 people have been evicted to preserve a critical water catchment area, the Mau Forest Complex, from destruction. Rights groups say the evictions violate the rights of the people affected.