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Police roundup squatters at Killarney in Bulawayo
Tererai Karimakwenda, SW Radio Africa
July 20, 2006  

http://www.swradioafrica.com/news200706/killarney200706.htm

A group of about 60 displaced people currently living in shacks at the Killarney squatter camp outside Bulawayo, were rounded up by police Tuesday and were detained for a day. The group included some children under 5 years of age. The Reverend Dr. Martine Stemerick who has been assisting pastors in the area who help the displaced families with food, blankets and medical care, spoke to one of the clerics about the Tuesday incident. Preferring not to be identified the pastor told us the men, women and children who were detained were all thrown together into a fenced area in the cold. The pastor believes the police did not have enough blankets for them all and some spent the night freezing.  

The pastors negotiated with the police and were allowed to bring in food for the detained group. Further negotiations secured their release without bail by the end of the day Wednesday. Police told the pastors they had rounded up the squatters because some criminal elements commit robberies then hide within the Killarney community. But this time the police were not looking for anyone specific.

Making a comparison with last year’s demolitions during government’s Operation Murambatsvina, the pastor said: "It was nearly the same kind of situation except this time they did not take their belongings." The pastor also told Dr. Stemerick that these are the same people whose homes were destroyed in May 2005. They found shelter at local churches around Bulawayo but the police followed up and broke into these sanctuaries, displacing them a second time. Now they live in constant fear of being removed from Killarney.

The Reverend Dr. Martine Stemerick has been helping to raise funds for food and blankets for the families at Killarney.

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