South African cities are planning to create “concentration camps” to house thousands of poor people well away from the football stadiums where next year’s World Cup will be staged, charities say.
Human rights groups in Cape Town and Johannesburg have expressed outrage at leaked plans to clear the streets of the homeless during the tournament. Councils in Johannesburg and Durban have told charities that street children and the destitute will be “compassionately” relocated out of city centres from next month. (more…)
Remember Mayor Gavin Newsom’s idea to install 10 “homeless meters” along Market Street and Van Ness Avenue? The idea, proposed in May 2008, was to discourage people from giving to panhandlers by offering a way to donate spare change to organizations that help the homeless.
Thousands of people swarmed Cobo Hall in chaos this morning trying to get applications for housing and utility payment assistance from the city of Detroit.
Sacramento police arrested 15 more homeless people Saturday at a vacant lot just north of downtown. The campers were released the same day, and some soon returned to the lot that is morphing from a campground into a battleground.
“Part of the change in attitudes that I want to see here in Washington and all across the country is a belief that it is not acceptable for children and families to be without a roof over their heads in a country as wealthy as ours.” - President Barack Obama, March 24.