Beijing to Evict 'undesirables' Before Games

Beijing's Olympic chief has ordered a "social cleansing" operation to clear the city of beggars, hawkers and prostitutes.

The relocation of "problem" residents aims to create a salubrious image of the Chinese capital before the arrival of up to 500,000 tourists, athletes and journalists in August. Targets include homeless people, unregistered taxi drivers, snack vendors and fronts for prostitution such as hairdressers and karaoke parlors.

Amid fears of human rights abuses, Liu Qi, head of the Olympic organizing committee, said police should use restraint. "The problems of vagrants, beggars and unlicensed businesses must be solved before the Olympics. But in enforcing the law, [officers] must be civilized, they must explain their actions and be reasonable," the Beijing News quoted him as saying.

Plans had been announced to put migrant beggars and hawkers in holding centers before being forcibly sent home.

Beijing is not the first host city to adopt such measures. Before the last games in Athens, 2,700 Roma were reportedly evicted. Last year, a study by the UK's Center on Housing Rights and Evictions claimed more than 2 million people had been driven from their homes since 1988 to make way for various Olympics.

But the concerns are particularly great in China, where brutal tactics have often been used to evict people. Several human rights advocates have been arrested to silence critics before the arrival of 30,000 foreign journalists. Among them is Hu Jia, an Aids campaigner who has not been seen since he was taken by police last month. His family is under house arrest.