|TOP|Christian Aid reported that security forces invaded and destroyed the homes of more than 300 families living in the Angolan capital Luanda, beating residents and shooting a four-year-old girl in the process, according to eyewitnesses.

The armed police, private security forces and bulldozers intruded the Cambamba 1 and 2 neighbourhoods on Monday to clear the houses and make way for a new government housing project called ‘Nova Vida’, meaning New Life.

Although families were told on Saturday that they would be evicted, they were given no written notice, leaving the residents homeless.

Christian Aid’s partner SOS Habitat, which protects poor people’s housing rights, is protesting against the evictions, which are illegal under Angolan law. One SOS Habitat activist, Antonio Pinto, was arrested and another had his camera seized as they were trying to document the destruction.

|AD|Meanwhile, there are no plans to re-house the residents, many of whom are among the poorest people in Luanda. They have received no compensation for the destruction of their homes.

Continuous destruction in Cambamba indicate that the government is trying to force them to leave the area for good, as residents have repeatedly faced demolitions in the past months.

"These demolitions contravene basic human rights and Angolan law," said Ollie Sykes, Christian Aid’s programme manager for Angola.

"The Government of Angola needs to act within its own laws and act equitably in the way it treats its own citizens. The government must follow the correct legal process, pay compensation where it is due and re-house people who have lost their homes."