Citation

Gwandure C. Afr. Safety Promot. 2007; 5(2): 51-62.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2007, Institute for Social and Health Sciences, University of South Africa)

DOI

unavailable

PMID

unavailable

Abstract

Operation Murambatsvina (English: Operation Drive Out Rubbish), also officially known as Operation Restore Order, was a campaign by Robert Mugabe's Zimbabwean government to forcibly clear slum areas across the country. The campaign started in 2005 and according to United Nations estimates has affected at least 700,000 people directly through loss of their home or livelihood. Robert Mugabe and other government officials characterize the operation as a crackdown against illegal housing and commercial activities, and as an effort to reduce the risk of the spread of infectious disease in these areas.

However, the campaign was met with harsh condemnation from Zimbabwean opposition parties, church groups, non-governmental organizations, and the wider international community. The United Nations has described the campaign as an effort to drive out and make homeless large sections of the urban and rural poor, who comprise much of the internal opposition to the Mugabe administration.