(Ecofin Agency) - On court’s order, tens of residents of Soanierana, which is near Antananarivo, Madagascar, are being evicted since last Monday, with a 48 h warning only.

“Bulldozers came and destroyed houses. The people resisted and were hurt by the police. We have been living here for the past 40 years! There are kids, women here! When we came in 1972, the land was the State’s. Yet, when we recently tried to get a title, it appeared someone had done before us in the meantime,” one of the residents told RFI.

“Nobody talked about a compensation or ways to support the evicted, so we demand for balance between the respect of the rights of this new landlord and that of those that are losing their homes,” highlights Zo Randriamaro, Coordinator of an human rights defense association.

The evictees’ anger is highly justified since the law states that residents that have been occupying a specific land for a “long period” of time can own it. This should have assured the people of Soanierana to keep their homes.

Souha Touré