Slum life in Algeria, Sudan and Yemen

Footage of rioting over poor housing conditions in a slum district of Algiers in October prompted others in the region to contact the BBC with their stories of slum-living. Huda Jabir from BBCArabic.com spoke to young men from Algeria, Sudan and Yemen.

MOHAMED, Algerian now in the UK

I used to live near Diar Eshams, the suburb in Algiers that saw the recent rioting.

Protesters at Diar Eshams, Algiers lean over a wall to throw stones at police

It is overpopulated, chaotic and lacks basic services. It's one of the oldest areas built during French colonial rule in the 1950s.

The number of people living there has gone up and up, and is in no way matched by the houses available. Homeless people have had to build their huts there - little shacks made partly of wood or metal.

These homes were established on what was meant to be parkland for the original residents.

Gradually, the area has grown ugly and disorganised.

I used to live in there in a house with 11 other people. The house originally belonged to my uncle, his wife and their children. Then my family: my mum, dad, brother and me had to live with them for years.

There was no space and it was very hard to study but despite that I managed to pass all my exams because I was determined to improve my family's situation.

Algeria is a rich country, it's shameful the government doesn't help these people

At times I had to sleep in the hall outside the bathroom door.

A lot of the blame lies with people who have too many children, without knowing how they are going to house them.

But the government also has responsibility towards its people. Algeria is a rich country, full of natural resources and it is shameful that the government doesn't help these people.

I left this suburb and Algeria entirely seven years ago, and as far as I heard, the suburb now is full of unemployed youths who have nothing to do but deal in drugs and prostitution.

MOHAMED TAYFOUR, North Sudan, 28 years old

I lived most of my life in an area of North Sudan called al-Zidab.

Mohamed with his nephew in Zidab, before he moved nearer to Khartoum

It lacked everything, it had no decent services and on top of that, it was full of thieves. I used to feel unsafe, especially at night.

I had to move closer to the capital Khartoum to study and to try to find a suitable job.

I now live in an area called al-Kidrow. About 95% of the housing is slums. There are about 30,000 people crammed into an area of about 20km.

In spite of this, I think the social ties and connections here are stronger than in many affluent areas of Sudan.

At the moment, I am renting a small one bedroom flat which has a hall and a balcony. I share it with my mother and my sister who works as a hospital doctor in Khartoum.

I am not afraid of being cleared out of the area. The government is good, but it provides very little help or development opportunities. I think I'll be dead before we see any help.

I do feel lonely here because I don't know people like I used to in my home town. However, it feels so much safer, I feel I could leave my front door unlocked at night, unlike in Zidab.

My dream is to find a decent job so I can get a bigger house for myself and my family to live in.

This dream seems a long way off, as there are no jobs available for people like me.

ABD AL-RAZEK, Yemen, 29 years old

I live in the poorest slum in Yemen's capital, Hay Radfan, on a mountain on the outskirts of Aden.

Most people here are very poor. Under British colonial rule, this area was a dump for burning rubbish.

After independence, when the Communist Party started ruling South Yemen, it allowed people to live here on two conditions: first, people were only allowed to use wood, not cement when building their houses.

The second condition was that the government had the right to clear people out whenever it wanted.

In the late 70s and early 80s, the government allowed people to use cement and basic services like electricity and clean water started to arrive. But the government kept the right to remove people.

There are about 50,000 people here now, although there's been no official count.

Houses usually have two rooms, in which families of eight or more people live together

Most people here are unemployed, but the social ties are strong because we live very close to each other.

Nearly all the houses are now made of cement, but the building has been haphazard.

There's still a lack of basic services: water and electricity are only available at night and telephone connections only arrived in 2000.

Houses usually have two rooms, in which families of eight or more people live together.

I live in a two-bedroom house with seven of my brothers and sisters, my mother, father and all my nieces and nephews.

It is very crowded, but we are happy living together as one family.

Life is difficult, but this house is all we own. If we were to lose it, we would lose everything and be homeless with absolutely nothing.

I managed to finish my secondary education and get a university scholarship with the help of one of the humanitarian organisations here.

My dream is to get out of here and leave Yemen altogether one day.