Beijing Razes Migrant Neighborhoods, Evicting Tens of Thousands
After that, officials hastily listed 25,395 safety hazards across the city,
and said they had to act fast "to prevent the tragedy recurring." The city party secretary, Cai Qi, ordered a 40-day clearance campaign to rid the city of safety hazards in migrant neighborhoods.
But many migrants say the government is using the fire as an excuse to ramp up efforts to drive them out
and ease pressures in a city whose population has already soared beyond 20 million people.
"If it’s demolished today, then won’t you be able to get a good night’s sleep?"
Initially, city leaders ignored the complaints from the displaced migrants.
Shi Yongxiang said that We’re all Chinese, this is our capital too, the people’s capital,
Zhang Guixin said that Suddenly in one night my livelihood was destroyed, as if I’d been attacked by bandits,
but this was done by the government saying they care for us,
But the city government has also spent years trying to reduce Beijing’s population of low-income migrants, using demolitions
and sweeping inspections of residency documents to force them out.
