Police in Rwanda’s capital city have forbidden residents of a slum next to a wealthy neighborhood from leaving or entering their homes, and drones flying overhead are blasting announcements on loudspeakers telling them to move right away to a new purpose-built estate about 20 kilometers (12 miles) away.
Residents of the upscale Nyarutarama neighborhood’s neighboring Kibiraro/Kangondo settlement told a BBC reporter that the government was violating their fundamental rights.
Government officials claim that the residents of the new estate, which some investors built, must relocate “for common interest and proper city planning”.
However, the locals claim they are being relocated so the investors can utilize their land’s advantageous location.
In the slum there have been about 1,500 families.
Many of those who stayed have sued the government, claiming that their properties were undervalued, while hundreds have already moved to the estate that was built for them.