A rough estimate of where people are located is as follows: 114,000 or 20% living in the open with no shelter; 114,000 or 20% having gone or forced to go to rural areas; 170,000 or 30% absorbed by families, friends or the extended family; and 170,000 or 30% seeking refuge within the community in churches and other temporary accommodation. Those affected include tens of thousands of people of Malawian, Mozambican and Zambian origin who have established themselves for decades, and in some cases for generations, in Zimbabwe. They have no rural home to go to. Similarly, many widows and divorcees have no rural homes to return to, because property often stays with the former husband’s side of the family. Others are in need of medical care which is difficult to get in rural areas. The mission was also presented with testimonials of families transported to rural areas had been rejected by traditional leaders who claimed that they did not want to be exposed to “the immorality of urban lifestyles and increased risks of HIV propagation.”51 Government officials repeatedly asserted in the press and in official statements to the mission that a major expected outcome of Operation Restore Order is the “return” of people to rural areas. It is the informed opinion of the mission, based on two decades of research by UN-HABITAT and its partners, that this is a misinformed assumption. Rural-urban migration is driven by economic factors. It lies in the search for better livelihoods and escaping rural poverty . Moreover, urbanrural relocation, whether forced or voluntary, would exacerbate the present situation in rural Zimbabwe, characterized by several years of continuous drought, shortages in food supply and falling incomes. In Mutare, a group of churches reported that immediately following the demolitions of about 32,000 housing structures at the end of May, some 50,000 people were sleeping in the open near the sites of the evictions. However, this number had dropped to 3,000-5,000 when the mission arrived on 1 July. Approximately 15% of those rendered homeless in Mutare were reported chronically ill. At the time of the mission, there were 17 churches in Bulawayo sheltering evicted persons. 3.4 Impact on livelihoods and the Economy The livelihoods of all directly affected households have either been destroyed or placed in serious jeopardy. In many instances, there is compounded suffering as homeless and displaced people are unable to pursue their occupation or maintain their source of income. All households accommodated in transit centers have become entirely dependent on emergency relief for their survival. People who moved in with relatives or neighbors are, without a doubt, taxing the capacity of their hosts in meeting their basic needs. For many of those rendered homeless, housing structures were their most valuable asset. Many traders in the informal sector, including vulnerable groups such as people living with HIV/AIDS and widows with disabled children, have had their stock confiscated or destroyed. 52 The loss of capital is therefore substantial. Many people who had taken out loans to build a home or start a small business now have no means of repaying their debts. Homeowners who used to rent out parts of their plots to shack dwellers have lost this source of income as a result of the demolitions. Many of them were retired public sector employees whose 51 52 Confidential submission. Confidential submission. 35