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September 5, 2008 11:10:18 PM CDT

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Beijing Olympics Displacing 1.5M

Posted Dec 5, 07 8:19 AM CST in Sports,  World 

(Newser) – Construction projects under way for the Beijing Olympics have led to a massive number of displaced citizens—13,000 people each month, reports the AP. The Switzerland-based Center on Housing Rights and Evictions predicts that by the time the Games open next summer, 1.5 million Chinese will have been forced to move.

The organization accused Beijing of arbitrary decisions, lack of due process, and insufficient compensation for evictions—charges the Chinese housing authority vociferously denies. Last September thousands of poor people moved into a "petitioner's village" to protest the housing seizures, only to see the village bulldozed to the ground. Beijing insists the number of displaced residents is much lower.

Source Associated Press

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The Chinese National Olympic Stadium, also known as the Bird's Nest, is seen reflected on a pond as it undergoes construction ahead of the 2008 Beijing Olympics, in Beijing, China Tuesday, July 24, 2007....   (Associated Press)
Two journalists filming the iconic National Stadium nicknamed as "Bird Nest" under construction for the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games covered with smog in Beijing, China, Thursday, Oct. 25, 2007.   (Associated Press)
A Chinese woman retrieves plywood from a construction site as work continues on Beijing's National Stadium, in Beijing, China Wednesday July 11, 2007.   (Associated Press)
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