Satellite imagery assessment of forced relocations in Nairobi, Kenya: 2011-2012

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Executive Summary

At the request of Amnesty International, USA (AIUSA), the Geospatial Technologies and Human Rights Project of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) investigated reports of forced relocations in Nairobi, Kenya. AIUSA identified five locations from which residents reported being forced to leave their homes (Figure 1) between 29 June 2011 and 2 April 2012. At three of these locations forced relocations occurred on two separate dates for a total of eight forced relocation events (Table 1). Across these locations, AAAS documented the destruction of approximately 3,966 structures in total.

Data and Methods

AAAS received six images of Nairobi, Kenya and its surrounding suburban areas, collected between 2011 and 2013 (Table 2). Due to the distance between locations of interest, the images covered different areas of the city, such that not every location of interest was contained within each image. For each event, the two closest images in time before and after the event were analyzed (Table 3). For example, Syokimau was reported to have experienced demolitions on 12 November 2011. The image used to establish a baseline for the area was collected on 30 June 2011 and analysis to quantify demolitions was conducted using an image collected on 4 September 2012. The analysis consisted of counting individual structures at each location before and after the reported forced relocation. Note that the event reported at Embakasi could not be assessed because there is no high-resolution imagery of the location from prior to the event date (29 June 2011).

Results

Imagery analysis confirmed five forced relocation events. Multiple structures had been removed from the Syokimau, Kenya Ports Authority, and Mitumba locations during the reported period of forced relocations. The forced relocations reported to have occurred at the Embakasi and Kyong’ombe Embakasi locations, however, could not be confirmed.

Embakasi and Kyong’ombe Embakasi

AIUSA reported that traditional Masai dwellings had been erected on government owned land at the Embakasi and Kyong’ombe Embakasi locations in 2011. Reports indicate that these dwellings were first removed on 29 June 2011. Following the initial removals, new Masai dwellings were constructed and subsequently removed between July 2011 and November 2011. The earliest image available of these locations was collected on 30 June 2011, one day after the initial removals. No images of the location were available between the dates of when the dwellings were reconstructed and when they were removed. As a result, AAAS was unable to confirm later forced relocations, as the Masai dwellings could not be located.

Syokimau

The Syokimau neighborhood is a collection of freestanding structures southeast of the Jomo Kenyatta International Airport. Between 30 June 2011 and 4 September 2012, 411 structures in Syokimau were removed (Figure 2). These structures were all located north of the Syokimau Airport Road, while structures just to the south of Syokimau Airport Road were undisturbed (Figure 3).

Mitumba

Mitumba is a densely populated slum covering 58,940 m² adjacent to the Wilson Airport. A total of 870 structures were counted in the 6 October 2011 image. In the 10 December 2011 image, cloud cover obscured 30,100 m² of Mitumba. In the 28,840 m² not covered by clouds, 415 structures were counted in the 6 October 2011 image. Only 115 of these structures remained on 10 December 2011, representing a loss of 72% of all structures. If that ratio was consistent throughout Mitumba, it can be estimated that a total of 626 structures were removed in this time period. By 6 August 2012, all of the remaining structures had been removed (Figure 4).

Kenya Ports Authority

Kenya Ports Authority is another densely populated slum covering 1,036,365 m² at the southern edge of Nairobi. In the 6 October 2011 image, clouds obscured 38,625 m² of the slum. Outside of the obscured area, 2,685 individual structures were present. Assuming that the density of structures inside the area covered by clouds was similar to that in the uncovered area, the total number of structures present on 6 October 2011 is estimated as 2,789. By 10 December 2011, only 67 structures were present in Kenya Ports Authority. All structures had been removed by 6 August 2012 (Figure 5).

Conclusion

Imagery acquired and analyzed by AAAS confirmed reports of forced removals at the Mitumba, Syokimau, and Kenya Ports Authority locations but forced relocations at the Embakasi and Kyong’ombe Embakasi locations could not be confirmed. At these two locations, AIUSA reported that structures were cleared on 29 June 2011, one day before the first available image of the area.

At the Syokimau, Mitumba, and Kenya Ports Authority locations, analysis revealed the removal of hundreds of structures (Table 4). In the northern area of the Syokimau neighborhood, a cluster of 411 structures was removed between 30 June 2011 and 4 September 2012. Two slums, Mitumba and Kenya Ports Authority, were completely cleared in two stages. Initial removals occurred between 6 October 2011 and 10 December 2011 with both areas entirely cleared by 6 August 2012. In total, approximately 3,966 structures were removed.