The Washington Center for Human Rights (WCHR) is appalled by the recent large-scale forced evictions conducted throughout Ethiopia as part of the Corridor Development Project (CDP), not only in the capital, Addis Ababa but also in at least 58 other municipalities. These massive displacements—in the absence of genuine consultation, notice, or compensation—are major violations of global human rights standards, most importantly the right to adequate housing and against arbitrary forced displacement.
WCHR urges the Ethiopian government to suspend all evictions immediately, put the CDP on hold, and conduct an independent examination of the project to determine its compliance with international legal standards and commitments.
Corridor Development Project and Mass Displacement
In December 2022, Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed commissioned the Corridor Development Project as part of a larger urban modernization project that includes the construction of an grand palace. The first phase of the project resulted in demolitions of the city’s cultural heritage sites in Addis Ababa. In October 2024, the second phase was announced covering 2,000 hectares of land and initiating mass evictions—mainly in Bole and Lemi Kura sub-cities.
As of now, no overall statistics have been published by the government on the total number of individuals forcibly evicted. Satellite images examined by independent experts between November 2024 and February 2025, however, confirm that at least 29 hectares of densely populated urban residential areas have been demolished. WCHR estimates that at least 872 people have been forcibly evicted from their homes in the capital city alone—without compensation, legal recourse, or relocation options.
The CDP has since been replicated in at least 58 other urban areas nationwide, with credible sources indicating the number is much greater. While the human cost is immense, Ethiopian officials continue to describe the CDP as a development initiative, refusing to admit or address the severe social and legal consequences of these forced evictions.
Emergency Human Rights Issues and Government Shortcomings
WCHR’s fact-finding mission has found the evictions carried out in glaring violation of international human rights standards. Residents to be evicted were not consulted, not offered advance notice, and not given alternative housing or legal recourse against their removal. Vulnerable individuals—children, the elderly, and people with disabilities—were disproportionately affected and now risk becoming homeless and in desperate circumstances.
These evictions are not merely illegal—hauntingly inhumane. The government of Ethiopia has completely abandoned their obligations under international conventions to which they are party. This is not done in the name of development; this is done as a concerted act of denial of basic human dignity.
Forced evictions without due process contravene Ethiopia’s commitment under the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Article 11 on the right to adequate housing. They also violate the UN’s Basic Principles and Guidelines on Development-Based Evictions and Displacement, which mandate that all relocations must be legal, necessary, and with fair compensation and resettlement support.
WCHR urgently requests the Government of Ethiopia to:
- Immediately suspend all current evictions and demolitions under the CDP.
- Suspend the Corridor Development Project until an independent, transparent, and rights-based assessment.
- Offer compensation, relocation support, and legal redress to all displaced individuals.
- Meet international human rights commitments, including the right to adequate housing and protection from forced displacement.
These are not development policies-they are campaigns of displacement. The international community needs to hold Ethiopia to account and call for respect for basic human rights before more lives and communities are lost. WCHR will remain closely engaged with the situation and calls on UN agencies, donor governments, and regional players to put human rights at the heart of their dealings with the Ethiopian government.