(17, Jan 2012, AAAS)--Satellite images confirm that villagers living within the Gambella region of Western Ethiopia have been relocated to smaller and less desirable plots of land, possibly to make way for large foreign-owned commercial farms, according to a new report by AAAS.
The study by the AAAS Geospatial Technologies and Human Rights Project details the apparent destruction of dozens of small homes and other structures, most occupied by small-scale subsistence farmers. At the same time, satellite images collected by the project show construction of hundreds of new buildings, and at one location, a new, large-scale industrial farm.
The AAAS report was prepared in support of an extensive study released today by Human Rights Watch. The satellite images complement testimony from distraught local residents who were moved under Ethiopia’s “villagization” program. They were told that they would be compensated with lots of three to four hectares; instead, the reports say, each new dwelling comes with about a quarter-hectare of land.
“Using satellite imagery, we came up with the same result as people on the ground,” said Susan Wolfinbarger, the senior program associate for the AAAS Geospatial Technologies and Human Rights Project. Read more from AAAS »
The study by the AAAS Geospatial Technologies and Human Rights Project details the apparent destruction of dozens of small homes and other structures, most occupied by small-scale subsistence farmers. At the same time, satellite images collected by the project show construction of hundreds of new buildings, and at one location, a new, large-scale industrial farm.
The AAAS report was prepared in support of an extensive study released today by Human Rights Watch. The satellite images complement testimony from distraught local residents who were moved under Ethiopia’s “villagization” program. They were told that they would be compensated with lots of three to four hectares; instead, the reports say, each new dwelling comes with about a quarter-hectare of land.
“Using satellite imagery, we came up with the same result as people on the ground,” said Susan Wolfinbarger, the senior program associate for the AAAS Geospatial Technologies and Human Rights Project. Read more from AAAS »
No comments:
Post a Comment