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Africa

South Africa

• Johannesburg street and market traders form united front (September 2004)

Zambia

• Zambian President meets with AZIEA (August 2004)
• Street vendors fight government harrassment (June/July 2004)
• President Mwanawasa forms taskforce following protests over levies (June 2003)

Asia

Bangladesh

• Floods hit street vendors (July 2004)

India

• SEWA defends pedal and handcart  vendors' rights in Ahmedabad (August 2004)
• World Social Forum: Street vendors look to new state policy (January 2004)
• Message from Tourist Market Footpath Shopkeepers to UNESCO World Heritage Team (2003)

Indonesia

• The urban poor of Jakarta fend off evictions (December 2003)
• Street vendors protest planned eviction (October 2003)

Nepal

• Street vendors' leader arrested in mass protest against Government repression (September 2003)

• Korean public workers' union terrorised by police (November 2004)
• National street vendors Annual Congress and Rally (June 2004)
• Stop repression of Korean migrant workers (February 2004)
• Migrant workers' struggle continues (February 2004)
• Street vendors win right to trade in Olympic stadium after battle against evictions (February 2004)
• International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel and Restaurant, Catering, Tobbaco and Allied Workers ( IUF) calls for solidarity with Korea migrant workers
• Migrant workers face mass deportation (November 2003)
• Migrant workers occupy cathedral in protest (November 2003)
• Korean Street traders in battle to stop destruction of stalls (July 2003)
• Release In-Gee Choi (June 2003)
• Korean street vendors hold annual congress and rally  (June 2003)

Latin America

• ICFTU Mourns Loss of Luis Anderson, International Trade Union Leader (November 2003)

Argentina and Mexico

• Argentinian and Mexican protests by "underground economy workers" (August 2004)

Colombia

• Colombian women's rights activist murdered (October 2004)

North America

• New York state regulates 'out of control' street vendors in unprecedented new law (February 2004)
• New York: Vendors oppose corporate-led clamp down (February 2004)
• New York City: street vendors accused of causing pavement "pandemonium" (February 2004)

Korean public workers' union terrorised by police: Several branches of the Korean Government Employees Union have been raided by police and several union leaders arrested. The crack down took place as the KGEU was preparing to hold an industrial ballot. Korean People’s Action Against FTA & WTA (KOPA) reports “riot cops are deployed around the unions offices”. Branches have been raided and ballot boxes seized and arrest warrants issued against KGEU President Kim Young-Gil and General Secretary Ahn Byeong-Soon. 

On Saturday 7^th November at 22.00 hours police raided the Gangseo-gu Chapter of KGEU, in Seoul and confiscated the branch’s computer, ballot papers and ballot boxes. At 8.30 am on Sunday, the Seoguipo Chapter office was searched, at 10.30am papers were confiscated from the Euiryeung Chapter office and police searched union officials’ homes as well. At 21.00 hours the same day the Yeongdo Chapter office was raided and papers torn up. KOPA reports that on Monday, four more of KGEU’s offices were raided as preparations were being made to hold the ballot. On Tuesday all the KGEU chapters where the ballot had started were raided, the voting stopped and many members were arrested by police.

Your solidarity is needed. Send your message to the Korean government demanding an end to the repression and that government negotiate with the KGEU. Send a protest letter to the Korean Government: Address to send protest message to: 

• President ROH Moo Hyun: The President of Republic of Korea, 1 Sejong-no, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-820, Republic of Korea. E-mail: president@cwd.go.kr  
• Prime Minister LEE Hae-Chan, Office of the Prime Minister, Republic of Korea, 77-6, Sejongno, Jongno-gu, Seoul 110-760, Korea. E-mail: m_opm@opm.go.kr Fax: +82-2-3703-5501 +82-2-3703-5526 
• CC: KGEU Fax: +82-2-2631-1949 e-mail: kgeu@kgeu.org

Zambian President meets with AZIEA: Lameck Kashiwa, secretary of Alliance of Zambian Informal Economy Associations reports to StreetNet that a very successful meeting was held with the state president His excellency Levy Patrick Mwanawasa. “The meeting which was supposed to be for one hour lasted for two and half hours at state house. We raised the problems faced by marketeers in particular and informal economy workers in general, including harrassment by state and council police, non-provision of services in trading places, non-consultation on issues affecting informal economy workers, working under outdated laws inacted 70 years ago without any amendments, not being recognised by government and the need for institutionalised forums of dialogue.” AZIEA expressed disappointment that the government had not acted on the Market Act recommendations now for over a year. The president was surprised to note that the recommendations were ready. President Mwanawasa promised to deal with all the issues raised at the meeting by AZIEA. 

A presidential rally is being held on September 11^th in Kitwe where the president will address the issues raised with AZIEA members. Kashiwa reports: “We are sure that the President will respond to the issues positively because he has acknowledged the failure by councils to manage markets and asked us if we can make a change, to which we answered 'yes'.” (Source: E-mail message from Lameck Kashiwa, 2/09/2004. Click here to read Position paper prepared by Zanama executive for meeting with Zambian President,Levy Patrick Mwanawasa SC(24/08/2004)

Johannesburg street and market traders form united front: Executive members of four Johannesburg informal trader organisations have formed a united front to deal with grievances arising from by-laws which outlaw street trading in many areas of the city and allegations of undemocratic and corrupt practice by the council. The Crisis Committee formed last week is holding a protest in Johannesburg Library Gardens on September 1 2004 and will be handing over a memorandum to Local and Provincial Government Representatives. The four organizations, ACHIB, Gauteng Hawkers’ Association, Informal Business Forum and Isolabantu met last week to formulate a response to the city council’s restriction of trading areas and the arrest of thousands of illegal pavement traders hawkers in the city and the confiscation of their goods with no means of legal redress. Livingstone Mantanga, Crisis Committee spokesman, says the city introduced  a policy document in 2002 without including the needs of street traders or including  street traders' organizations as stakeholders in the policy-drafting process. The policy seeks to remove street traders from the pavement and forces them to trade in markets at rents which most street traders cannot afford. Matanga says: "Street trading has been totally banned, without debate or discussion, in 27 suburbs and precincts as well as many streets, as a result, most street traders risk arrest when they return to the pavement in their attempt to earn an honest living. The Crisis Committee believes the by-laws on street and market trading need to be overhauled and completely reviewed and that the views and needs of street and market traders, who contribute to the economy and city, should be included in any policy decisions the city makes as they are directly affected." For More information Contact: Livingstone Matanga, Crisis Committee Spokesman and Co-ordinator 083-4763782

SEWA defends pedal and handcart  vendors' rights in Ahmedabad - The Police Commissioner of Ahmedabad announced a notification banning slow vehicles from moving during specific time in the city. Manali Shah SEWA Vice-President reports that as a result 7 000 Hand Cart puller members and some 3,000 vendors are unemployed. "We were trying to negotiate with the Police Commissioner, but even after 12 days of continued efforts, the commissioner did not change his decision thus we had to take out a rally of more than 4,000 members in this regard and also demonstrate in front of the Police Commissioner office. Though he assured that he will make relevant changes in the notification on that day he actually did not make any changes which would enable our members to work."

"As a result we then had to do a road map survey, to count the number of slow vehicles at different hours of the day, to bring to the notice of the Commissioner regarding the situation of the slow vehicles and number of people whose livelihood is totally dependent on it. This struggle still goes on." Shah met the Police Commissioner and the Labour Secretary to discuss the alternatives on this issue on 14th August. 

"The meeting went very well. In the meeting the Principle Secretary of the Labour Department, along with Police Commissioner and myself were present. Both the officers are very positive about the whole issue and Police commissioner informed us that a petition has been filed in the High Court regarding the slow vehicles and nuisance caused due to it and as a result of this the Police Commissioner had to take such a step." 

It was agreed that we need to review the alternatives to this decision. SEWA has asked for the help of the Professors and Students of the School of Architecture and Planning, Ahmedabad, to devise a solution that will enable vendors to continue to earn a living at the same time as solving the problem of traffic congestion (Source: Message to Marty Chen, WIEGO [Women in  Informal Employment: Globalizing and Organising] from Nidhi  Self-Employed Women's Association (SEWA) Research Academy, India, July 10th 2004: Manali Shah, SEWA Vice-President, message to StreetNet, 5th and 14th August, 2004).

Argentinian and Mexican protests by "underground economy workers" - Protests and demonstrations by informal economy workers in Argentina on August 13th were met with the advise from the Minister of Interior that the unemployed  should stop "bothering people" and work. Minister Anibal Fernandez is reported on the World Socialist Website (WSW) to have said in a radio interview, "Even if it is not a genuine job, they could form co-operatives, or start a garden, or work baking bread...".

The WWS reports that in Mexico City on August 11th over 1 000 street sweepers, hawkers, beggars and prostitutes and other who earn their livelihood on the city's streets protested against new regulations that have been introduced to reduce petty crime. The protest follows the arrest of 3 000 people and the imposition of fines under the new Ordinance (Source: http://www.wsws.org/articles/2004 /wkrs-a18_prn.shtml).  

Zambian street vendors fight government harrassment - AZIEA, the national Alliance of Zambian Informal Economy Associations, has called on the Zambian  government to respect and recognise civil society organisations following a threat by government to deregister one of the organisation's strongest affiliates ZANAMA. Lameck Kashiwa, spokesman for AZIEA, told StreetNet that the attack on street trader organisation followed the unilateral decision in June by of the municipalities on the copperbelt, Luanshya, to increase market levies by 150%. ZANAMA responded by calling all members not to pay the increase until they were able to sit with the local authority to discuss the increases. Subsequently the media reported that local councils were calling for the deregistration of ZANAMA  in submissions to the parliamentary sub-committee of local government. (Click here to read AZIEA Press Statement)

"We have had public meetings protesting in the five districts where AZIEA is established to protest the  government attitude to civil society organisations." AZIEA has also issued a press statement requesting the parliamentary committee respond to the local government submission because it runs counter to the spirit of negotiation and consultation. Public meetings are being held in four districts this weekend, July 16th-17th 2004, denouncing the continuous harassement of street vendors and urging Government to act on the Market Task Force recommendations. Kashiwa says "We have invited the Minister of Local government and Housing who told me that she is eager to attend the meeting. We have also invited heads of state police in the districts and local government officials." 

The Task Force, comprising all stakeholders, was formed last year following the demand by AZIEA that the government intervene to resolve the problem of arbitary local government increases in market levies and to address the urgent need to replace outdated colonial policies on market regulation and management.  AZIEA has resolved to make an appointment with the clerk of the National Assembly to allow us make a presentation before the Parliamentary Committee on the management of markets and issues pertaining to street vendors. AZIEA has repeatedly stated that government must ensure that  it also includes community participation by allowing marketeers to manage markets as that is the government's policy of empowerment. (Compiled from e-mail messages between AZIEA and StreetNet 6th June, 24th June, July 14th 2004).

Bangladesh: floods hit street vendors - The Bangladesh Self-Employed Union has written an appeal for emergency assistance to assist the thousands who were left homeless and without food or homes during the recent floods. The President of SEU, Farida Akter, wrote that flooding hit the capital Dhaka, forcing thousands of city residents to live on rooftops. About a third of Dhaka was submerged under floodwaters, polluted with sewage and garbage, exposing people to serious health hazards.

"Thousands of factories, shops and establishments closed in different part of Bangladesh and millions of workers have become jobless. Street Vendors and informal sector workers are living with their families in the temporary shelter without food and other basic needs as a result of flood in different areas specially in northern, north-eastern, and central districts of Bangladesh.

Around 70% of SEU members in Dhaka,Sylhet, Rajshahi, and Narayangonj districts are directly affected by the flood. Local leaders and organisers are assisting SEU members.  Three Relief Teams provided emergency food, drinking water and medical treatment to the workers' families in the affected areas from the SEU fund.  
   
The Bangladesh Daily News Monitoring Service reports that women entrepreneurs have sought the co-operation of Government, financial organisations, NGOS and development agencies to help women deal with the aftermath of the flood's devastation. They have appealed for interest payments for women entrepreneurs who were affected by the floods during the months of July and August to be waived. The World Socialist Website reports that the floods are regarded as the worst to hit the Indian sub-continent in 15 years. Figures reported on 30th July put the number of dead in the region as high as 1 300 and the homeless at 40 million. Water-borne diseases are expected to cause many more fatalities, as the flood waters recede. (Source: Daily News Monitoring Service report 19th August; E-mail from SEU to StreetNet, 28th July, 2004; World Socialist Website report by Wimal Perera http://www.wsws.org).    

Stop repression of Korean migrant workers - The Nepal trade union organisation GEFONT has called on the President of Korea to stop the policy of repression against foreign workers. The most recent arrest of Equality Trade Union Migrant 's Branch leader Samar Thapo by plainclothes immigration officials and his detention in a  deportation centre, has triggered a new outcry against the government campaign. Thapo is being held in one of the many deportation centres created by the government following new regulations to control migrant workers in November 2003. The Justice Ministry is reported by The Korea Times to have detained 3 192 undocumented foreign workers, deporting 2 831 of them last Monday. More than 30 000 have left voluntarily, while 7 have committed suicide. In fear of immigration police and the 'manhunt', many workers have left their homes and have gone into hiding. The  crackdown by immigration officials is a prelude to the introduction of a new Employee Permit System for foreign workers planned for August. The Equality Trade Union-Migrants' Branch keeps the public informed of their actions through their website http://migrant.nodong.net/ver2/index_e.html and http://www.base21.org/ To send an on-line protest letter to the Korean Government go to http://www.labourstart.org (see below) Source: E-mail from GEFONT 29th February 2004

New York state regulates 'out of control' street vendors in unprecedented new law - A new law that is expected to be signed by the Govenor of New York State tomorrow will impose new restrictions on vending in Mid-Manhattan and prevent vendors from trading on the pavements surrounding "Ground Zero", the old site of the World Trade Centre. The new legislation replaces a lapsed regulation dating back to 1894 that protected war veterans' right to trade anywhere. Lawmakers claim that vendors and pedlars have created a nuisance and hazard on pavements and will issue licenses to only 60 disabled war veterans to trade in the Midtown area. The new law will prohibit trading less than 5 metres from a street corner, but a clause which recommended the finger-printing of vendors has been excluded. Robert Lederman, of  ARTIST (Artists' Response to Illegal State Tactics) writes there are already 60 pages of regulations that allow police to move all street traders, confiscate their goods and fine them and the new law treats war vets and street traders like 'pariahs'. Source: Circular e-mail from ARTISTS 27th February 2004)  For more information visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NYCStreetArtists/ and http://www.openair.org/alerts/artist/nyc.html 

World Social Forum: Street vendors look to new state policy -  StreetNet affiliates, the National Alliance of Street Vendors of India (NASVI) and the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA),  hosted a conference at the World Social Forum in Mumbai, India, on the 17th of January 2004. The Conference was attended by over 1000 street vendors and hawkers  from Mumbai and India, international trade unionists and WSF delegates. The conference provided an international platform for street vendor organisations to encourage governments to draft and adopt national policies that treat street vendors as important economic actors whose livelihoods make a significant contribution to development. The eminent decision by the Indian Government to adopt a National Policy on Street vendors which will replace a regime of harassment, eviction and ruthless policing of street trading by many of India's largest cities was expected following the WSF. NASVI was one of the organisations on the drafting committee, mandated by its affiliates to represent the interests and needs of street vendors. For more information on the policy process see StreetNet News #2.  (Source: NASVI and StreetNet communication, January 2004).

New York: Vendors oppose corporate-led clamp down - ARTIST, representing First Amendment-protected vendors (trading in written materials ie: art, books, posters, CDs, photos etc), is appealing to New York City councillors to oppose four new proposed laws that will further regulate and criminalise street vending. ARTIST President Robert Lederman says that despite exaggerated media reports, only 66 new traders were counted in the midtown district, an area of 40 city blocks, where there is supposed to be a danger to the public through pavement congestion. ARTIST argues that the allegations about public space being abused by street vendors is motivated by corporate interests presently negotiating a multi-billion dollar contract with the City of New York to gain control over the exact same public space to use it for sidewalk advertising. This view is also given credence by the mayor's unrestricted use of one the city's best known parks, Central Park, to exhibit elite corporate art by means of an exhibition of giant sculpture being promoted by the Mayor's own media company, Bloomberg LP. This exhibit will be running from one side of the park to the other. ARTIST has called into question what the mayor and these BIDs real concerns are in seeking to over-regulate pavements and parks as well as the cultural and racial prejudice which the attack on street vending represents. Compiled from e-mail from Robert Lederman 02nd February 2004; ARTIST letter to NYC council members and NY State legislators; visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NYCStreetArtists/

South Korea - Migrant workers' struggle continues - Following the Korean Government's agreement that it will allow "illegal" migrant workers to voluntarily leave the country in exchange for a guarantee that they can return legally later, the media reported yesterday that most migrant workers had  taken advantage of the reprieve. Some workers are continuing the sit-in protest at Myeong-Dong Cathedral in Seoul city centre begun in November 2003. The Equality Trade Union, Migrant's Branch (ETU-MB), has highlighted the principle of equal rights for all workers, demanded a work permit system, the right of workers to choose their place of work and the authorities release all migrant workers being held in detention centres. Sixty ETU-MB members have refused to accept the government's terms and are continuing the sit-in. Source: NFSVK e-mail 7th February, 2004.

New York City: street vendors accused of causing pavement "pandemonium": New York City already has a long list of regulations to control street vending. Recently street vendors have been accused by the media and powerful business organizations known as Business Improvement Districts or BIDs of "clogging pavements" and by the Police Department for "contributing to a sense of disorder" and creating a public danger through congestion. The introduction of four new laws by the City and New York State has caused alarm among street vendors. The proposed regulations include draconian fines for litter offences, a new law imposing a permit on First Amendment-protected vendors and war veterans and planned new no-trade zones. Vendors in First Amendment related materials (art, books, posters, CDs, photos etc) who are now protected by American law, face regulation which could set arbitrary numerical limits on vendors, determine where they can trade and prohibit trade in city parks. Recent rulings in lawsuits brought by the organisation ARTIST eliminated any permit or licensing requirement. Compiled from e-mail from Robert Lederman 02nd February 2004; ARTIST letter to NYC council members and NY State legislators 9th February, 2004; visit http://groups.yahoo.com/group/NYCStreetArtists/

South Korea: Street vendors win right to trade in Olympic stadium after battle against evictions - On 30th November, Seoul metropolitan city police demolished the stalls of approximately 1600 street traders in Chonggye-chon St district to make way for city restoration. Most of the street vendors had no other means of earning a living and continued to trade even though they faced daily harassment and forced removal by the city police and hired security. In January the Seoul City authorities gave way and found another trading space near Chonggye-chon Street so that evicted vendors could continue to earn a living. They have resumed trading at Dongdae-mun Stadium, used for the 1988 Seoul Olympics. Pics and report from NFSVK e-mail 27th January 2004 

International Union of Food, Agricultural, Hotel and Restaurant, Catering, Tobbaco and Allied Workers ( IUF) calls for solidarity with Korea migrant workers  - South Korea: Korea's Equality Trade Union, Migrant's Branch (ETU-MB), affiliated to the national center KCTU, has come under vicious government attack as it defends migrant workers against repression and mass deportations. The ETU-MB, the only national union for Korean migrant workers, opposes the ongoing government operation to deport some 120,000 undocumented workers (two-thirds of the migrant work force) and has therefore come under increasing attack from immigration and riot police. Union members demonstrating in support of migrant workers' rights been physically assaulted, and the government has threatened to arrest and deport union leaders sitting in at Seoul's Myongdong cathedral since November last year.

By highlighting - and organizing around - the urgent issue of equality of rights for all workers, the ETU-MB and KCTU have drawn the full brunt of government repression. They are now requesting international support. You can support their struggle by signing on to the Labourstart online petition to the Korean government available here. Source: IUF Website 15.01.2004 

Indonesia: The urban poor of Jakarta fend off evictions - With 15 000 already homeless, the Jakarta provincial government resumed a policy of evicting the urban poor. An alert sent by the Urban Poor Consortium in December stated that inhabitants of the city living under the highways in North Jakarta and of surrounding area of Ria Rio Dam in Pulo Mas, people living on the riverbanks where the Canal Project is in progress, numbering tens of thousands, are in danger. The eviction by the municipal security officers has involved the confiscation of street vendors' goods, denying them of their means of earning a living. A mass demonstration to oppose the provincial policy and put pressure on the central government was held on December 5th 2003. Source:e-mail alert sent by Urban Poor Consortium December 9th, 2003

ICFTU Mourns Loss of Luis Anderson, International Trade Union Leader - Brussels, November 17, 2003 (From ICFTU Online): The international trade union movement is in deepest mourning at the sudden loss of Luis Anderson, General Secretary of the ICFTU Regional Organisation for the Americas, ORIT.  Anderson, aged 62, passed away on Saturday 15 November at his office in Caracas, Venezuela.

"Luis Anderson's life and his work stand as an inspiration to every trade unionist, and we are profoundly saddened at his loss," said ICFTU General Secretary Guy Ryder. Luis Anderson was born in Colón, Panama, on 9 February 1941.   He was elected General Secretary of the ICFTU-ORIT in 1983.  Following a period as Minister of Labour of Panama, he resumed as ORIT General Secretary in 1986, and represented the ICFTU and ICFTU-ORIT in a wide range of high-level regional and international events.  For more information: Visit ICFTU on-line  

South Korea: Migrant workers face mass deportation - November 14: Labourers down tools again to protest Government labour policies which seeks to detain migrant workers in state facilities before deporting them. As many as 130,000 migrant workers are waiting to be deported to their home countries.  Large demonstrations, involving formal sector and informal sector workers under the ETU-MB (Equality Trade Union, Migrants Branch, a part of the umbrella union KCTU), are demanding the legalization of all migrant workers. The South Korean government started a new round of searches for migrant workers on the 16th of November. Many migrant workers face a future of fear and harassment.

South Korea: Migrant workers occupy cathedral in protest - Migrant workers from Mongolia, Nepal, Bangladesh, Pakistan, Indonesia, the Philippines and other countries  occupied the area around Myeongdong cathedral in downtown Seoul on the 14th of November. Under ETU-MB, KCTU (Joint Committee for Migrant Workers) they are demanding the release of all migrant workers being held in immigration detention centers and the legalization of all migrants in South Korea. 
ETU-MB and in Korea has been fighting the government's decision to implement an Employment Permit System. The law passed by the National Assembly (NA) last year stipulates that migrants staying more than 4 years are illegal and face arrest and deportation. 

ETU-MB needs your solidarity! Visit Equality Trade Union Migrant Workers' Branch website http://migrant.nodong.net Source: National Alliance of Street Vendors of Korea (NFSVK) reports.

Indonesia: Street vendors protest planned eviction - More than 300 street vendors, who live along the banks of Mataram River in Sleman regency here, rejected on Thursday a plan by the Sleman government to evict them. Riding a truck, five cars and dozens of motorcycles, the street vendors descended on the official residence of Yogyakarta Governor Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X here to solicit support from him to cancel the plan. But, the protesters went home disappointed, as Suwarno, an official with the Yogyakarta governor's office, told the protesters that the governor was out of town. Meanwhile, despite the protest, Sleman regent Ibnu Subiyanto pledged that he would stick to his plan to evict the street vendors. Source: Jakarta Post, October 31st.

Colombian women's rights activist murdered - Colombian women's rights activist, Esperanza Amaris Miranda was murdered in cold blood and her body abandoned in the street on 16th October in Barrancabermeja. Esperanza was a member of the Popular women's Organisation (OFP) which has defended and promoted women's rights for 30 years. The OFP was declared a "miltary target" by paramilitary groups. The organisation had asked the authorities for protection after it received several death threats. The International Confederation of Free Trade Unions (ICFTU) and its Women's Committee reaffirm their solidarity with all women and men living under the scourge of violence and impunity in Colombia. It has called for an exhaustive and impartial investigation into the assassination of Esperanza Amaris, to identify those responsible for the crime and bring them to trial. Source: ICFTU on-line

Nepal: Street vendors' leader arrested in mass protest against Government repression - Narayan Neupane president of the Nepal Street Vendors' Union was arrested on 7th September with many of national union GEFONT's leaders in a campaign of mass defiance led by the Joint Peoples' Movement following the Government's ban of peaceful protest in the country. Five organisations called for mass defiance of the Prohibition Order because it is unconstitutional. Umesh Upadhyaya, spokesperson for GEFONT, said on September 4th, 100 000s of people from informal and formal sector unions joined with other sectors of the movement in street demonstrations. In the course of the protest GEFONT Chair Mukunda Neupane and Trade Union Dept Chief Binda Pandey and 35 labour activists were arrested with 1 700 political activists in the capital city, Kathmandu.

GEFONT reported on the 7th via e-mail message that during sustained street protest national executive member Krishna Bahadur Ghale had also been arrested with the leaders of seven of its affiliates, including Neupane. Subsequently, on the 9th of September, Upadhyaya said that under the pressure of sustained mass defiance of the Prohibition Order the government had released all those who had been detained. Protest against the erosion of democracy and the Prohibition Order was continuing.

Korean Street traders in battle to stop destruction of stalls - Street traders in the Cheonggye-Cheon district of Seoul, South Korea, have begun a battle for  the right to earn a livelihood following the unilateral decision of the Seoul Metropolitan authorities to upgrade the area, at the expense of  more than 700 street vendors and small merchants who they plan to evict.  

Twenty-three members of the National Federation of Street Vendors of  Korea (NFSVK) were arrested and three badly injured on June 30th in a confrontation with police a day before the Cheonggye-Cheon Restoration was scheduled to start on July 1. NFSVK plans to sustain its protest against city's destruction of stalls, houses and markets of street vendors and the poor. NFSVK has no problems with urban upgrading, but it demands that such programmes be implemented in consultation with street vendors, in order to ensure the upgrading does not remove their means of earning a living. They believe it is possible to consider alternatives for the street vendors and small merchants who are being displaced, as well as carry out urban development, in a way that is harmonious and mutually acceptable. This requires that the city negotiate with the democratically elected representatives of street vendors (ie NFSVK).

One of the major problems is that the Korean Government has criminalised street vending by passing legislation which makes it illegal. This legislation urgently needs to be reformed. StreetNet encourages street vendor organisations to send a message of protest to Mayor of Seoul Metropolitan City, Myongbak Lee, against the unacceptable abuse of the economic rights of street traders who have no other means of earning a living as a result of  the Cheonggye-Cheon Restoration, and to further, request the Korean Government to negotiate with street traders to arrive at a solution that respects the human rights of street vendors as soon as possible. Messages to the mayor should be sent to following e-mail address:   mb@seoul.go.kr     

Release In-Gee Choi - StreetNet International demands that Kum-sil Kang, the Minister of Justice of Republic of South Korea immediately release the general secretary of NSVK, In-Gee Choi, who has been in prison since February in part of ruthless crackdown on street vendors and their leaders.

In 2002, Bong-gyu Park, a vender working at Chunggyechun street in Seoul burned himself to death in protest against the crackdown on street venders. After his death, NFSVK formed an emergency ad hoc committee to protest the Korean government's crackdown on street vendors. Eight activists on the committee were arrested on 4th Feb. However, In-Gee Choi is still being detained and others are under police surveillance. The official reason for In-Gee Choi's imprisonment is that he used violence  outside the Seoul detention center when his comrade's release was delayed in November 2002. NFSVK believes he is being falsely charged. He has devoted himself to the vendors movement throughout his life under the harsh and repressive conditions of Korea.

NFSVK says: "His detention continued without any grounds makes the vendors' situation worse. South African, Indian, Thai, and Singapore governments have already moved to respect the social and economic contribution of street vendors. We are looking forward to his release."

Korean street vendors hold annual congress and rally - The annual rally of street vendors of Korea was held from June 2nd-10th in Seoul. About 5 000 street vendors and citizens attended the Congress of Street vendors of Korea organised by the National Federation of Street Vendors of Korea (NFSVK). Among the issues that were addressed by the Congress are the crackdown by authorities of street vendors and the use of civilian service employees who are linked to gangs to police street traders, vendors and hawkers. An annual congress and rally has been held every year since 1988 when street vendors demonstrated against the authorities' 'clean-up' of the streets during the Seoul Olympics which put thousands of street traders out of work.

Zambia's President Mwanawasa forms taskforce following protests over levies - Zambia's President Mwanawasa has formed a taskforce to discuss street traders' dissatisfaction over increases in market levies and draft a national policy on regulation of informal markets. 

The decision was announced after Zambia National Marketeers Association (Zanama) requested an explanation for the increase in the levies from Government. Kitwe market traders had been forced to pay increased levies at gunpoint and several Zanama members were arrested when they resisted. Zanama sought a court interdict that questioned the legality of the Kitwe local government's doubling of daily market levies without any prior consultation.

The organisation has appealed to the Government to respect the rights of street traders who are among the country's poorest people.

Street and market vendors' organisations (Ghana StreetNet Alliance, and NASVI (National Alliance of Street Vendors of India) are also participating in the formulation of new policies on street and market vending in Ghana and India.

(Source: news report 23/03 and organisation's communication with StreetNet International)

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