IOM, the UN Migration Agency on 12 December assisted 18 households (106 individuals) who were evicted from Cleverhill Farm in Bindura district, Mashonaland Central Province. The families, comprising mostly women and children were left stranded by the roadside without shelter and basic amenities.

A protracted court case dating back to 2017 between the Cleverhill farm owner and farm workers resulted in the families being evicted from the farm. This is the second time these farm workers have been left homeless in a period of two years.

“We have no idea what to do next. Our houses were demolished; we lost our livestock, our sources of income and some of our belongings,” said one elderly farm worker of 64 years.

Women and children are the most affected. It is estimated that 30 boys and 37 girls are part of the evicted families, 23 being of school going age. “Our situation is dire; we have no access to clean water and sanitation facilities. Our children are exposed to diseases and the weather is not kind to us either. It has been raining continuously for the past two days.” Lamented Sinza Phiri, a breastfeeding young woman of 19 years.

IOM was alerted of the displacement by its implementing partner, the Zimbabwe Community Development Trust (ZCDT) and quickly responded to the case.

“We responded to the call for assistance through provision of emergency shelter and non-food items (NFIs). Said Lenard Kamwendo, IOM Project Assistant. “A total of 18 NFI kits and 54 tarpaulin tents were distributed to the affected families,” he continued.

The District Administrator (DA) represented by Ms. Takudzwa Dzere commented IOM for complementing government work. “We are grateful to the timely intervention of IOM responding to the desperate needs of the affected families. IOM complements government efforts in taking care of the vulnerable members of community.”

IOM in line with its strategic focus on responding to emergencies and building the capacity of governments is engaging the DA’s office to provide appropriate resettlement for the evicted families. Through the referral path ZCDT will conduct resilience building training for the affected families while the Counselling Service Unit will assist with medical and counselling support. The Zimbabwe Lawyers for Human Rights is providing litigation services and plans are under way for the establishment of Internally Displaced Persons (IPDs) Working Groups in all the provinces of Zimbabwe. The IDPs group will work with the government in responding to the needs of the mobile community.