When African heads of state flew to Addis Ababa at the end of February for the 36th African Union Summit, the streets of the Ethiopian capital were clean and orderly.
Gone are the beggars at the crossroads. Gone are street vendors selling vegetables and used clothes. Gone are the young kids handing out shoe polish on the side of the road and chewing gum.
Construction sites and unofficial markets are hidden, hidden by giant billboards emblazoned with portraits of presidents and catchy slogans. “Unity determines Africa’s destiny,” read one. “African solutions to African problems,” said another.
At the summit, leaders discussed an ambitious plan to lift 30 million Africans out of extreme poverty. The talks were held in the Chinese-made glass-and-steel skyscraper that houses the AU headquarters, a building that does not appear on the skyline of Dubai or Shanghai.
But the most visible signs of extreme poverty in Addis Ababa itself are hidden from view. This is not an accident.
Some low-income families in the city said that beggars and vendors who usually work on the streets have been quickly arrested by authorities and held in detention centers during the peak.
They were replaced by heavy police and security presence.
In one incident, according to witnesses, a young woman who was begging near the Hyatt Regency Hotel was bundled into an unmarked truck by the police. Some were beaten and verbally abused. Some babies or small children are strapped to their backs.
The hotel hosted several heads of state and senior diplomats during the summit.
In Bole, a suburb close to the international airport, youths who usually work on the streets are absent during the peak.
People like 20-year-old Henok, who shines shoes on the sidewalk, are gone.
Henok’s mother, Almaz Tadesse, does not know where he is, and when or if he will return. She is worried that she will be sent to a prison far from the capital, and that her equipment – which she bought with her meager savings while working as a domestic worker in Lebanon – will be confiscated.
Henok was released from a detention facility in Addis Ababa a day after the summit ended. His equipment is gone.
Another mother, whose son earns a living by begging, spent the weekend sickened by his presence. “I don’t think begging is illegal, but maybe the government is making poverty illegal for us poor people,” he said.
Addis Ababa police did not respond to requests for comment.
Daniel Bekele, head of the Ethiopian Human Rights Commission (EHRC), a state agency, said the commission was aware of the issue.
“The EHRC has regularly received complaints about the temporary detention of street children and others as part of security and rehabilitation measures, and we are concerned about this and are conducting further investigations into the human rights implications,” he said.
According to the World Bank, 27% of Ethiopia’s 120 million people live below the poverty line of $2.15 a day.
Addis Ababa is not unique in trying to remove impoverished citizens during major international meetings. Last year in Kigali, before the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Rwandan authorities allegedly rounded up homeless people and beggars from the streets and put them in informal detention facilities.
Push to clean the city even more, accordingly The New York Times. “Some residents say they have been told to renovate or paint their houses or buy banners advertising the country’s tourism industry.”
A spokesperson for Human Rights Watch said: “Rwanda’s strategy to promote Kigali as a hub for meetings and conferences often means abuse continues against the capital’s poorest and most marginalized citizens.”
Authorities in Uganda did the same before the 2007 Commonwealth meeting in Kampala, removing “undesirables” from the streets to promote the country’s “good image”, according to researcher Sarah Musubika.
And in Athens and Beijing, vulnerable and itinerant people were forcibly relocated before the 2004 and 2008 summer Olympics.
This article first appeared on Continenta pan-African weekly newspaper produced in partnership with Mail & Guardians. It is designed to be read and shared on WhatsApp. Download your free copy here.