Hundreds protest in Beijing over migrant crackdown

Hundreds of protesters have taken to the streets in the Chinese capital to denounce Beijings crackdown on migrant communities, with chants of "violent evictions violate human rights", the media reported.

Demonstrators gathered on the streets of Feijia village, northeast of Tiananmen Square, on Sunday for the small but rare rally condemning the eviction and demolition campaign, the Guardian newspaper reported on Monday.

It quoted activists as saying that thousands of migrant workers had been forced from their homes in Beijing's rundown periphery since late November when authorities intensified efforts to drive "low-end" migrant workers out of the city in the wake of a deadly tenement fire.

Sunday's protest was not reported in China's Communist party controlled press but videos and photographs of the event spread online, with human rights campaigners cheering the scenes.

Footage showed crowds processing through the community, which is just north of the motorway leading to Beijing's international airport and close to the 798 art district, itself the target of violent demolitions in the past, the daily said.

"The demonstration suggested Beijing may have miscalculated how much outrage would be caused by the 'ferocity' of its campaign, which has seen once vibrant migrant communities reduced to rubble," the report said.

--IANS

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