On May 25th, possessions belonging to homeless persons living in Kinshi Park, located by the soon-to-be-demolished Sumida Ward gymnasium, were seized and taken away. At least five people lost valuable personal property, which included blankets, mattresses, clothing and personal possessions. On Friday, the Sanya Welfare Center for Day-Laborers Association accompanied the victims to the Sumida Ward office to ask for details surrounding why these possessions were removed, and to demand their immediate restitution. However, staff at the responsible division, the Sports Promotion Division, repeatedly insisted that all items had already been disposed of, thereby making restitution impossible. No apology for clearing and disposing of the property was offered. Ultimately, the staff called the police to have us removed because we were “posing an obstruction to city affairs”. Habitat International Coalition vehemently oppose Sumida Ward’s handling of this matter.
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