Nearly 112,000 houses have been recently demolished in and around Ethiopia’s capital Addis Ababa by authorities, the non-governmental rights advocacy group, the Ethiopia Human Rights Council (EHRCo) disclosed in a report it released on Wednesday.
The EHRCo report disclosed based on information provided to it by housing demolitions related petitioners that at least 111,811 houses have been demolished since October by Addis Ababa authorities and the recently formed Shaggar city administration which surrounds the country’s capital.
The EHRCo report also disclosed based on the information it gathered from the Oromia region Islamic Affairs Supreme Council that more than 19 mosques have been demolished in Shaggar city.
Federal, Addis Ababa and Oromia region administrations have previously justified the ongoing massive home demolitions campaign as saying the housing structures were “illegally built”.
The rights advocacy group also said it had sent letters to the Addis Ababa city housing development and administration bureau, the President Office of the Oromia region administration, the Shaggar city administration which is part of Oromia region, but didn’t get a reply up to the date of the publication of the report.
The EHRCo report further said there have been reports of beatings and detentions during the ongoing mass homes demolition campaigns.
The report also said those whose houses have been demolished often times in arbitrary ways are facing economic, social, and mental crises while their children have been disrupted from regular school activities.
